Luka Doncic, the virtuoso superstar of the Dallas Mavericks, is a perennial MVP candidate, but some feel he is a bit prickly.
When they lost to the Charlotte Hornets on Sunday, Doncic was given a technical foul in the third quarter after he thought he was fouled.
Since it was his 16th technical foul of the season, he was scheduled to be suspended for Monday’s contest against the Indiana Pacers, but the NBA rescinded Sunday’s technical foul, which in effect nullified that suspension.
Rick Carlisle, the head coach of the Pacers who was at the helm of Dallas until two seasons ago, had Doncic’s back.
Rick Carlisle on Luka Doncic playing tonight vs. Pacers after NBA rescinded his technical foul suspension: "He gets hit on virtually every play. I’ve seen it close up. … I’m leading the league in technical fouls for coaches, so I empathize with disagreements with officials."
— Callie Caplan (@CallieCaplan) March 27, 2023
There are ordinary superstars, and then there are superstars like Doncic who truly seem to hate losing.
He has become one of the game’s deadliest players in crunch time, and he has several game-winning shots under his belt.
Like many of sports’ greatest competitors, Doncic appears to have fire in his belly, which, some feel, has made him a bit difficult to deal with for his teammates and coaches.
But accusing him of being toxic is something else entirely.
The Slovenian native is averaging 33.1 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game this season, and after years of having a mediocre cast around him, he has been joined by Kyrie Irving.
However, the addition of Irving hasn’t translated into wins, as the Mavs have actually fallen from sixth place to 11th place in the Western Conference, partly because they have major issues on the defensive end of the court.
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