The NBA confirmed Saturday that Luka Dončić has been suspended one game without pay for picking up his 16th technical foul of the 2025-26 season. He will miss Monday's game when the Lakers host the Washington Wizards at Crypto.com Arena, and he'll forfeit approximately $317,000 between the suspension and the associated fine.
The incident happened Friday night during LA's 116-99 win over Brooklyn. In the third quarter, Nets forward Ziaire Williams celebrated an offensive foul call against Dončić by screaming in his face. Dončić reached out to push Williams' arm away; Williams responded with a backhand swipe across Dončić's face. Officials reviewed the play before issuing double technicals to both players. That was Luka's 16th — the threshold that triggers an automatic suspension under NBA rules.
Dončić wasn't having it afterward. "He was yelling in my face three times," he said. "I just wanted to get out of there. It's a double tech, of course. What can I say? I didn't even talk. I just wanted to get out of there." Lakers head coach JJ Redick said the team would appeal, though given that officials reviewed the play before issuing the call, the odds of a rescission are slim. The NBA had already rescinded one of Luka's technicals earlier this season — a verbal exchange with Orlando's Goga Bitadze — buying him exactly one get-out-of-jail-free card. That buffer is gone now.
Here's the part that makes this sting a little more than a typical suspension: Dončić scored 41 points against Brooklyn, his NBA-best 15th 40-point game of the season. He also joined Kobe Bryant, Elgin Baylor, and Jerry West as the only Lakers players to post 12 consecutive 30-point games. The man is having one of the best scoring seasons in league history, and he is now watching Monday's game from the locker room because he couldn't stay out of an argument.
The Lakers are sitting at 48-26, third in the Western Conference with about three weeks left in the regular season. The Wizards game is winnable without Luka, but every game has seeding implications this time of year. More importantly, the suspension is a reminder that for all the dominance Dončić brings to any given night — 24.2 points per game from Victor Wembanyama's Spurs, currently No. 2 in the West, is breathing down their necks — his particular brand of intensity comes with a recurring tax. He's been at 15 technicals at the end of three straight seasons from 2020 to 2023 and never had to sit. That streak is over.
The NBA playoff picture tightens on April 18. The Lakers need Luka locked in, not suspended.
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