The Lakers beat the Kings 125-101 last night in a blowout victory over their California rivals. During the game, another rivalry was brought back to the surface, which was the brewing beef between the Slovenian star Luka Doncic and the German guard Dennis Schroder.
While we reported this incident initially, a video has gone viral on social media that unravels new details of the incident between Doncic and Schroder in the third quarter of the game.
According to the video, the trash-talk exchange between the two players started after Doncic triggered Schroder with a swipe to his elbow on a pass to break out in transition. Subsequently, Schroder reportedly turned around and said he would slap Doncic if he repeated that.
“All talk… I wish you could swing,” said Doncic in the video.
“Come to the back. I’m not the n***a to talk to,” Schroder allegedly responded as Doncic played it off like he knew Schroder would not do anything.
“I’ll beat the sh** out of you,” Schroder said after his teammate Nique Clifford missed the first free throw.
The Kings’ head coach, Doug Christie, tried to defend Schroder later on, but Doncic apparently responded, “he’s talking too much, I love it.”
NBA fans saw this video on social media and took opposing sides in this debate. Some suggested Schroder was acting like a ‘fake tough guy,’ while others called out Doncic for talking unnecessarily.
A few fans also brought up the fact that Schroder could just be mad at Doncic for eventually signing an extension with the Lakers, while Schroder himself rejected an $84 million offer from them earlier in his career.
“Luka is really a shit-talker, fair demon 😭.”
“Nah, I wouldn’t play with these Germans, Luka needs to stop it 😂.”
“Schroder is the fakest tough guy in the NBA.”
“Schroder has nothing to lose. He lost out on 80m.”
“‘Come to the back’ might be one of the corniest comebacks ever. No one is ‘coming to the back.’ Y’all are NBA players making millions.”
“Luka ain’t never been in a fight 😂😂😂😂.”
“Schroder has been fake tough since Atlanta. Heard plenty of stories about it too lol.”
There was no further aftermath after the officials separated Schroder and Doncic, and the game went on. But there is a lot of context between the two players.
Their newly brewing rivalry goes back to their matchups at EuroBasket. Following EuroBasket 2025, Schroder expressed respect for Doncic as one of the best players in the world. However, Germany got the last laugh over Slovenia as they beat them 99-91 in the quarterfinals of the tournament.
Subsequently, the 32-year-old guard reportedly took a jab at Doncic in the game when they faced off in the preseason, and the Kings won 117-116 in their final game before the regular season began. Just a few games later, the Slovenian star got his revenge as the Lakers beat the Kings 127-120 in their first matchup of the regular season.
Doncic has so far dominated their head-to-head record in 15 meetings between the two players (10-5) in their NBA careers. They will face off twice in the regular season after last night, on January 12 and March 1. It will be interesting to see how this rivalry comes back to the surface during these games.
