Dennis Schroder has landed himself in trouble with the NBA for his actions after the Sacramento Kings‘ 125-101 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers on Dec. 28, 2025. Schroder has been slapped with a three-game suspension without pay for attempting to strike Luka Doncic in a hallway of Crypto.com Arena.
Schroder and Doncic were seen exchanging words on multiple occasions during the game, and NBA insider Anthony Slater revealed what led the German to confront the Slovenian.
“Things appeared to cool off as the game ended. But Schroder left the visitors locker room at Crypto.com Arena, spotted Doncic, and tempers flared again inside the tunnel across from the home bench.
“Forty minutes after the buzzer, 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.
“Lakers center Deandre Ayton tried to drag away Schroder from the confrontation while a stunned Doncic attempted to exit as security intervened.”
Schroder had to be escorted to the team bus following the altercation. Doncic and his father, Sasa, meanwhile, headed to their car and exited the arena.
We perhaps shouldn’t be completely shocked by the incident, considering what was being said during the game. Schroder appeared to tell Doncic, “I’m going to beat the sh** out of you,” at one point. He was fuming.
Leaked audio suggests Doncic had also told Schroder, “All talk… I wish you could swing,” before he made that comment. Well, he did end up swinging.
Doncic taunted Schroder as well by telling him he should have signed the four-year, $84 million deal that the Lakers had reportedly offered him in February 2021. If he did indeed turn down that deal, it’s one of the biggest mistakes made by a player in recent history.
Why? Well, months later, Schroder would struggle in the 2021 playoffs for the Lakers, and that meant the offer was no longer on the table. He would only get a one-year, $5.9 million contract from the Boston Celtics in the summer when he became a free agent.
Schroder did at least manage to rebuild his stock in the coming years. The 32-year-old got a three-year, $44.4 million deal this past offseason as he joined the Kings via a sign-and-trade from the Detroit Pistons.
The signing hasn’t worked out for the Kings, however. Schroder hasn’t played well and is averaging 13.0 points, 3.3 rebounds, 5.7 assists, 0.8 steals, and 0.2 blocks per game this season. He was brought in to be a starter but lost his spot in the lineup after just 12 games.
Schroder is now suspended for games against the Houston Rockets, Lakers, and New York Knicks. It’s perhaps for the best that he won’t share the court with Doncic in Los Angeles on Monday.
The Kings and Lakers will face off one more time this regular season on March 1. Hopefully, everything will be fine by then.
