“Don’t Know if This Happens if It’s a Male Referee”: Radio Hosts Call Out Luka Doncic After Controversial Ejection

It was an eventful Wednesday night at the Golden 1 Center. The Los Angeles Lakers secured a 116-103 win over the Sacramento Kings, and Luka Doncic recorded his third consecutive 40-point game, wrapped up by the ejection, not of a player or a coach, but of a Kings fan. This led Fox Sports Radio hosts Monse Bolanos and Dan Beyer to believe that things could’ve ended up differently if the referee had been a man.

The later portion of the third quarter saw Doncic calling for the officials’ and security’s attention to a man sitting on the courtside seat. Basically, the ball landed on the man’s lap mid-game, and he happened to throw it to the woman referee standing nearby. However, the referee seemed a bit off-guard and not ready to catch it. This prompted the Lakers star to question the man’s action, and eventually the ejection followed.

“I think everyone completely overreacted,” Bolanos said of the incident. “We ejected this court-side fan because he threw the ball pretty swiftly at a ref? … If I would get a ball in a basketball game, I would be like, oh my gosh, this is my opportunity to show that I know how to pass a ball.” To this, Bolanos’ co-host Beyer agreed, stating, “I would not be happy. And I also don't think that this happens if it's a male referee.”

Bolanos’ point was that the man threw the ball towards the referee, who was slightly startled but completely unharmed by it. In his defense, the fan didn’t throw a “chair” and was probably a bit excited to show off his passing skills. Moreover, this sort of event happens all the time, too often to even notice, let alone warrant an ejection. So, both the hosts believed that Doncic did nothing but interfere and escalate the situation.

“I think Luka escalated it,” Beyer said. “Because I don’t think if the fan throws the pass at Ed Malloy (a male referee) that Luka is saying, ‘What the bleep are you doing?’ … I put the blame on Luka. I think Luka kind of started this whole thing. And in a way, it gets the wheels in motion. Who knows if it’ll benefit him from calls, by the way. But I don’t think in a million years this happens if it’s a guy who’s reffing at that spot.”

However, Doncic himself defended this situation. When asked about it postgame, the Lakers star stated that the fan “just tossed it really strong, the ball, toward the ref.” So, he “just asked him what the hell he's doing.”

Usually, the Slovenian guard has quite the reputation for arguing with refs or trash-talking opponents, so defending a referee was definitely a new addition to his resume.

But while he racked up 40 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists that night, the Fox hosts would’ve still very much liked it had he gone on and scored “another 10 points,” instead of getting into these courtside dramas.