Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic was assessed his 16th technical foul of the 2025-26 season against the Orlando Magic and will be suspended for the team’s game against the Detroit Pistons on Monday, unless it gets rescrinded.
Magic center Goga Bitadze and Doncic were called for double technical fouls after the two exchanged words at the free throw line and down the floor. It didn’t seem like the call was warranted as there was no physical contact between the two, but nonetheless Doncic picked up the technical foul.
After the game, Doncic said he didn’t agree with the call as he tried to restrain himself, but Bitadze was yelling stuff about his family in Serbian.
“I’m definitely hoping [it will get rescinded],” Doncic said on Spectrum SportsNet. “Obviously I let my team down getting that last tech. But honestly, I wasn’t trying to. He said he would f— my whole family and at some point, this is a basketball court, and some point I can’t stand it. I gotta stand up for myself. But I know I gotta do better. My teammates, I know they have my back, so I let them down today, but hopefully it will get rescinded.”
One of the knocks on Doncic is his constant complaining to referees, though he managed to dial it down in recent weeks once he picked up his 15th technical foul.
While picking up his 16th and potentially being suspended for Monday’s game against the Detroit Pistons isn’t ideal, it’s understandable for him to react in that manner if Bitadze was talking about his family.
With the playoffs around the corner, the Lakers can ill-afford to lose many games down the stretch as the Western Conference standings remain tight. Los Angeles was fortunately able to escape with a win against Orlando thanks to a Luke Kennard 3-pointer, but winning against a Detroit squad who still sits atop the Eastern Conference will be one of its biggest challenges yet.
Doncic has been on a historic offensive run during the Lakers’ winning streak as he’s been able to carve up defenses no matter what coverages he sees. He is the foundation of Los Angeles’ offense, but James and Reaves have more than enough experience playing without him to at least hold down the fort for one game if the Lakers aren’t able to get the technical foul rescinded.
JJ Redick: Lakers will try to get Luka Doncic’s technical rescinded
After the game, JJ Redick revealed the Lakers will contact the league to try to get Doncic’s technical rescinded to avoid being suspended against the Pistons.
“We’ll obviously try to get that rescinded. I’m not sure what happened,” Redick said on Spectrum SportsNet. “I do know that there were certain things said in a language the referees couldn’t understand that referenced Luka’s mom… [The refs] didn’t have really good control of that basketball game.”
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