A Phoenix Suns fan was ejected from the American Airlines Center after heckling Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic on Wednesday night.
The altercation occurred in the third quarter as the Mavericks allowed Phoenix to take control of the game with 43 points in the frame. The fan, who, according to ESPN, was sitting in the second row behind the press area, yelled at Doncic, “Luka, you’re tired! Get your a** on the treadmill!” causing Doncic to turn around and stare him down.
Doncic requested the fan’s removal multiple times after the incident, and the fan left the game at the behest of an arena employee during a subsequent timeout. Doncic says the fan had been displaying the same behavior all game.
“He was cursing me the whole first half, too,” Doncic explained to ESPN during a heated postgame exchange. “… I never would eject a fan. They paid for tickets, but I had enough. It’s a little bit of frustration.”
Suns players also reacted to the situation postgame, mainly calling for Doncic to ignore it and move on.
“If somebody talk some s**t to me, I’ll talk it back and we’ll move on,” star forward and former University of Texas standout Kevin Durant said. “That’s usually how it should go. Once it gets overboard, little disrespectful to the point [that] you got to stop the game, that’s different.”
Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd lamented the distractions that occurred throughout recent games to affect his team’s concentration, including an early skirmish that resulted in multiple technical fouls on both sides and a separate technical foul called on Doncic just before halftime on Wednesday.
“I think it’s a trend here,” Kidd remarked during a postgame press conference. “The referees are the referees. They’re going to make calls — good or bad. It’s just the nature of the league, but we can’t get calls every time down. We have to be better.”
Doncic finished the game with 34 points, 8 rebounds, and 9 assists, but the Mavericks lost 132-109 without guard Kyrie Irving and center Dwight Powell.