Luka Doncic levied some criticism toward the NBA Cup court and responded to a late-game incident involving himself and Clippers guard Kris Dunn in Tuesday's win.
The Lakers continued their promising start to the season with a 135-118 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in NBA Cup play on Tuesday. The win meant a little something extra too, as it means the Lakers secured their group over their crosstown rivals and will now advance to the knockout rounds.
The Lakers are now just one win away from heading to Las Vegas for the NBA Cup semifinals and potentially the championship game, which they also won in 2023 against the Indiana Pacers. While there were a handful of current Lakers on this year’s team who are still leftover from 2023, their most important player, Luka Doncic, was still playing for the Dallas Mavericks.
After Tuesday’s group-clinching win, Doncic made it clear that he’ll certainly take the money from the tournament but there was one specific aspect that he would like to see change. Whether that’s likely or not remains to be seen, but Doncic is one star who would certainly like to see the courts get some more grip.
“I’ll always accept money,” Doncic said. “I don’t think I’ve ever got past the group stage. It’s something new for me. I played in something like this in Spain, so I like it. Except the courts. It’s just slippery and dangerous … I slipped hard at times. You could see a lot of players slipping. That’s dangerous, man.”
Doncic also explained an incident at the end of the game involving himself and Clippers guard Kris Dunn, who received a technical for shoving Doncic in the back. Doncic then stood up and approached Dunn, who promptly shoved the ball into Doncic’s chest. It was at that point Dunn was pushed down by Lakers’ center Jaxson Hayes, who was T’d up and fined for his actions.
“I was waiting for the rebound,” Doncic said. “I got a cheap shot in my back. I'm not going to just stand there. I’m not afraid of anybody. I'm not just going to stand there and let it go. The ref was right there. I don't understand how we got a foul on that one. That's what the game is about. Sometimes it's going to get physical. There's a lot of trash talking. I live for that, so I love it.”
Doncic also let the media know that he would be paying for Hayes’ fine after the center delivered a bit of swift justice once Dunn decided to further escalate the tensions.
“Yeah, I got it,” Doncic said. “I told him right away.”