Luka Doncic and Goga Bitadze got into it in the third quarter of the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 105-104 win over the Orlando Magic at the Kia Center on Saturday. Doncic and Bitadze started chirping when the former was at the free-throw line, and they both were slapped with technical fouls as they continued talking down the court.
That was Doncic’s 16th technical of the season, which earns him a one-game suspension. The Slovenian is hoping it gets rescinded, though, as he revealed what Bitadze had said to him in his postgame press conference.
“I let my team down getting that last tech,” Doncic said, via Khobi Price. “But honestly, I wasn’t trying to. He said at free throw, he would f*** my whole family, and at some point, this is the basketball court. And at some point, I just can’t stand. I gotta stand up for myself. But I know I gotta do better. My teammates, I know they have my back, so I let them down today. But hopefully it can get rescinded.”
Doncic also shared that Bitadze made this disrespectful comment in Serbian. You can kind of make out the Slovenian telling official Sean Corbin that the Magic big man was talking about his family.
“I don’t care if people talk s***, but don’t talk about my family,” Doncic appears to say. I’mma f**k you up!”
Luka was MAD because Goga Bitadze brought up his family issues:
“I dont care if people talk shit but dont talk about my family! Imma f**k you up!”
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) March 22, 2026
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reports that the Lakers have already appealed Doncic’s technical foul.
“LAL asked for a review of Goga Bitadze’s involvement and believe the Magic big man should have been issued a warning prior to the techs.”
It will be interesting to see what comes out of this. As things stand, Doncic will miss Monday’s clash with the Detroit Pistons at Little Caesars Arena. That would be a significant blow.
Doncic recorded his ninth straight 30-point game here to lead the Lakers to their ninth straight win. The 27-year-old finished with 33 points (12-30 FG), five rebounds, eight assists, four steals, and one block against the Magic. As for Bitadze, he had nine points (3-3 FG), seven rebounds, and five assists.
The Lakers actually seemed set to taste defeat here as the Magic led 104-102 with 5.2 seconds remaining and had the ball. The hosts would turn it over on the inbounds play, though, to give the visitors life.
LeBron James then looked set to tie the game in the closing stages, but Paolo Banchero managed to block his layup. Banchero appeared to foul James, but the officials judged it was a clean block. The Lakers were frustrated by the call but didn’t let it get to them. They drew up another excellent play out of the timeout, which gave Luke Kennard a wide-open look from three.
Kennard, one of the best shooters in the NBA, made no mistake, drilling the game-winner with 0.6 seconds remaining. The Lakers improved to 46-25 with this win and are on an absolute roll at the moment.
