Recent reports have emerged that the NBA has fined Luka Doncic $35,000 for a gesture made towards a referee. The incident occured during the final seconds during the Dallas Mavericks’ recent matchup with the Golden State Warriors.
In a tight game down the stretch, there was a no-call that Luka Doncic was not happy about. He then proceeded to make a money gesture at the refs. Following the no-call, the Golden State Warriors went on to win the game by a final score of 127-125.
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Part of why Luka was so frustrated is because of how important the game was. With just a few games to go in the regular season, the Warriors and Dallas Mavericks are neck-and-neck in the Western Conference standings.
Luka Doncic isn’t the only person mad at refs in Mavericks vs. Warriors
While Luka Doncic might have gotten fined, he is not the only person on the Mavericks mad the refs in the game. Owner Mark Cuban sounded off on social media for one call that arguably cost them the game.
During the third quarter, a play occured where it seemed like the Mavericks lined up on the wrong side of the court. The Golden State Warriors proceeded to inbound the ball and get a wide-open layup.
After the game, Cuban went on a long rant to discuss this play. He said the refs told them the wrong thing and that it is the “worst officiating non call mistake possibly in the history of the NBA.”
Along with the rant, Cuban also stated that the Mavericks will be protesting this game. Since the Warriors only won by two points, this possible wrongdoing by the officials cost Dallas the game.
After every game, the NBA releases a two-minute report of the calls at the end of the game. When it came out for Mavericks vs. Warriors, only one wrong call was pointed out. However, it wasn’t the no call that got Luka fined.
According to the two-minute report, the only thing the refs missed was a travel by Luka with roughly 40 seconds to go in the game. This means that upon further review, the officials made the right decision to not make a call in the final seconds.
A final decision has not been made about the Mavericks’ appeal, but it will be interesting to see what this gut-punching loss does to their playoff position.