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LeBron James Says Lakers-Thunder Got 'Weird As Hell' After Luka Doncic Ejection

LeBron on Luka's ejection: 'I don’t know why the ref was taking it personal.'

Eva Geitheim

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Luka Doncic.
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Luka Doncic. / Petre Thomas-Imagn Images
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Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic was hit with a critical technical foul during the Lakers' loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Tuesday.

During the fourth quarter, Doncic had an exchange with a fan and was controversially called for a technical foul by referee J.T. Orr because "he looked directly at an official and used vulgar language," according to the pool report after the game.

Doncic's comments were actually aimed at the fan, not the official. This was Doncic's second technical foul of the game, meaning he was ejected.

The ejection came at a crucial point, as the Lakers had just taken 108-107 lead on a jumper from Doncic before he was removed from the game. In the wake of the ejection, the Thunder went on a 24-8 run, and pulled away from the Lakers to win 136-120.

After the game, LeBron James said he did not understand why the referee was "taking it personal,” and said the game became weird after Doncic's ejection.

“It was a weird couple minutes after that, starting with the ejection," James told reporters after the game. "I don’t know why the ref was taking it personal. He had already gave Luka one and Luka knew that. Luka was going back and forth at the time with the fan who was sitting courtside, like Luka does. The fans get to talk s—, talk out of their mind, whatever the case may be, and Luka was going back and forth and the ref took it upon himself to think it was vs. him or whatever the case may be. But then another T on Vando after a blocked shot. This game was just weird as hell after that moment."

With the Lakers' loss, the Houston Rockets now clinch the No. 2 seed and the highest Los Angeles can finish in the Western Conference is No. 3. They will need to go 2-1 to clinch the third seed without help.

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Eva Geitheim
EVA GEITHEIM

Eva Geitheim is a contributor to the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. Prior to joining SI in December 2024, she wrote for Newsweek, Gymnastics Now and Dodgers Nation. A Bay Area native, she has a bachelor's in communications from UCLA. When not writing, she can be found baking or re-watching Gilmore Girls.

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