Wednesday night was a frustrating one for Luka Doncic. His Dallas Mavericks were blown out, 132-109, by the Phoenix Suns on their home court, and he scored more points than the rest of the starting lineup combined. Only, the loss wasn’t the worst part of Doncic’s night.
Frustrated Luka Doncic gets fan ejected for heckling
Luka Doncic asked security to eject this Suns fan, who was sitting two rows behind midcourt press row. The comment the fan made that drew Doncic’s wrath: “Luka, you’re tired! Get your ass on the treadmill!” pic.twitter.com/chNYwiJBC0
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) January 25, 2024
In the middle of Wednesday night’s clash between the Mavericks and Suns, a fan sitting near the court yelled at Doncic and told him to “Get your ass on the treadmill!” The four-time All-Star wasn’t too thrilled with the heckler, so he pointed him out to security on his way back down the court.
Shortly after, security ejected the fan from his seat and asked him to watch the rest of the game from the concourse. Veteran ESPN reporter Tim MacMahon took a video of the fan leaving his seat and posted it on X, but he had no idea the trouble it would cause after the game.
Luka Doncic lashes out at ESPN reporter for doing his job
Luka Doncic & Tim MacMahon's postgame discussion about Luka having a fan ejected.
Video: @DuaneRankin pic.twitter.com/dkIfTPNrcn
— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) January 25, 2024
Following the loss, Doncic stepped to the podium and fielded a question from MacMahon about the fan. It’s safe to say he wasn’t too happy about MacMahon’s coverage of the incident.
“I knew you would be the first one to point out something like that,” Doncic told MacMahon during his postgame press conference. “I’m not gonna say what he said, but I knew you would be the first one to put out something like that. … You’ll be the first one to always put something bad about me.”
“First of all, 99 percent of the stuff I’ve written about you has been good,” MacMahon replied.
Doncic proceeded to press MacMahon about the fan’s behavior throughout the first half. He detailed how the fan was shouting other obscenities at him, but MacMahon only mentioned the line about the treadmill in his post.
After a verbal back-and-forth, Doncic was asked if he thinks he’s fairly portrayed in the media. His answer? “No.”
It’s hard to blame Doncic for lashing out considering the Mavericks had just lost their third straight game and their fourth in the last five games. He clearly feels some animosity toward MacMahon that had been bubbling up, and Wednesday night’s incident was the last straw.
On the other side, MacMahon was only doing his job — reporting a story that was happening right in front of him.