Luka Doncic, Lakers
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Luka Doncic #77 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives the ball around Karlo Matkovic #17 of the New Orleans Pelicans at Smoothie King Center on January 06, 2026 in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Slovenian guard Luka Doncic’s tendency to argue with officials instead of running back on defense has been a recurring topic throughout his career. In Thursday’s 135-117 loss to the Charlotte Hornets, the Los Angeles Lakers star was put on blast live on the air for a terrible defensive sequence that cost his team a four-point swing and allowed the Hornets to increase their lead to 14 points.
The incident occurred early in the third quarter when Doncic felt he was fouled by Hornets rookie Kon Knueppel when he attempted a fadeaway midrange shot. When the refs didn’t blow the whistle, Doncic slowly trotted back up the court, leading to an open three for Miles Bridges. Once Bridges drained the three, an irate Doncic began arguing with the referee and was subsequently hit with a technical foul.
“This guy is a whiner,” Hornets play-by-play man Eric Collins said on the air about Doncic, noting that Charlotte made L.A. pay for the poor defensive sequence.
Luka Doncic’s Defense Called Out
It would appear that even some of Luka Doncic’s teammates may be tired of his whining. After Thursday’s loss, Marcus Smart, the team’s best defensive player, seemingly called out Doncic while not naming the Slovenian.
“Instead of getting back, we’re talking to the officials a lot,” Smart said of the Lakers’ poor transition defense, via LakersDaily. “That definitely doesn’t help. We gotta be able to play on and move on to the next play.”
The Lakers rank 25th in transition defense, allowing teams to average 24.9 points on 55% shooting. JJ Redick’s team allows an alarming 1.17 points per possession in leak-outs and fast-break chances, despite his coaching staff’s emphasis on transition defense.
Are Lakers Coaches Fed Up?
The Lakers similarly had several terrible defensive possessions in transition during a loss to the Sacramento Kings last week. Per LakersDaily, the coaching staff was fed up with their players for arguing too much with officials instead of focusing on defense.
“They have to leave the officials alone and stop worrying about things that haven’t been called and go ahead and get back on defense.”
Lakers Daily
The Lakers coaching staff essentially told the team to stop crying about calls
“They have to leave the officials alone and stop worrying about things that haven’t been called and go ahead and get back on defense”
(via @LakersReporter)
Even Lakers legends James Worthy and Robert Horry highlighted the recurring pattern during the Spectrum SportsNet’s postgame show.
Redick realizes that his team has specific trouble going up against speedy, dribble-penetrating guards, like LaMelo Ball, on Thursday.
“I think that in general with our team against certain teams that have the dynamic drivers — which the Hornets have some really good drivers and they have a ton of shooting — we can be a little bit cautious guarding the ball,” Redick said via Silver Screen and Roll.
To Redick’s point, the Lakers had similar issues against athletic guards such as Stephon Castle, De’Aaron Fox and Keyonte George earlier in the season.
With their third loss in four games on Thursday, the Lakers (24-15) now own only a half-game lead over the sixth-seeded Houston Rockets (23-15) and a one-game lead over the seventh-seeded Phoenix Suns (24-17). Another few losses could mean the Lakers could be fighting for a play-in berth at the end of the season.