Dennis Schroder, Lakers, Luka Doncic, Kings
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Dennis Schroder #17 of the Sacramento Kings dribbles the ball against the Los Angeles Clippers during the second half at Intuit Dome on December 30, 2025 in Inglewood, California.
Sacramento Kings guard Dennis Schroder wasn’t just “attempting” to strike Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic in the tunnel at Crypto.com Arena on Dec. 28. He was fully intent on going through with his assault on the Slovenian.
Schroder made that much known on Sunday morning in response to a post from ESPN’s Shams Charania, who noted that the German was “attempting” to strike Doncic after the Lakers-Kings game on Dec. 28 until security personnel intervened.
The veteran guard threw in a laughing emoji to mock the insinuation that he wasn’t serious about attacking Doncic, whom he evidently despises.
Dennis Schroder Suspended
In a press release issued by the NBA on Saturday, the league office explained why it had suspended the Kings guard for three games.
“The NBA today announced that Sacramento Kings guard Dennis Schroder has been suspended three games without pay for confronting and attempting to strike another player.”
“The incident occurred approximately 40 minutes following the Kings’ 125-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 28 at Crypto.com Arena, when Schroder sought out the player in an arena hallway and initiated the confrontation.”
Although the NBA did not name Doncic, subsequent reports confirmed that the Lakers guard was the player Schroder targeted after the Dec. 28 game.
Luka Doncic Was ‘Stunned’
ESPN’s Anthony Slater provided additional, explosive details on the turn of events that took place after the Lakers defeated the Kings, 125-101, a few weeks ago.
Schroder reportedly confronted Doncic in the tunnel at Crypto.com Arena nearly 40 minutes after the final buzzer, telling the Lakers star that he can’t call him the B-word during the game and not expect to face the music off the court. At that point, Deandre Ayton tried to calm down the situation until security personnel intervened.
Doncic was reportedly “stunned” by the turn of events and left the arena with his father, Saša, in their car, while Schroder and his Kings teammates departed on the team bus.
“Schroder was eventually escorted to the team bus as Kings coach Doug Christie and several teammates sought answers about the sudden drama,” added Slater.
The report confirmed that the confrontation was triggered by Doncic trash-talking Schroder earlier in the game, when he called the German the B-word and poked fun at him for turning down a four-year, $82M extension with the Lakers in 2021.
“…Schroder went after Doncic, telling Doncic that he can’t call him a “b—-” on the court and pretend everything is fine off the court. The NBA concluded that Schroder attempted to strike Doncic,” wrote Slater.
Full footage of the Doncic-Schroder exchange has surfaced on social media and can be heard below in the third slide of Bleacher Report’s IG post.
The ESPN report added that the situation between Shroder and Doncic “appeared to cool off” after the game until Schroder left the visitors’ locker room and confronted Doncic in the tunnel. Some believe that Schroder, a former Laker, knew his way around Crypto.com Arena due to his past stints with the Purple & Gold franchise.