After what officials ruled as an “an aggressive strike to the groin area,” Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic was ejected from Sunday’s game against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
The Flagrant 2 ruling came as Doncic and Cavs guard Collin Sexton competed for a rebound in the game’s first half, with about 10:05 remaining and the Mavs leading 68-57.
Doncic seemed surprised after the ruling and walked off the court laughing, having just put up 14 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists before hitting his opponent in the scuffle.
“After I saw the video, I knew I hit him, but it was nothing on purpose,” Luka said after the scuffle, per Callie Caplan of the Dallas Morning News. “I think that kind of stuff happens a lot in the games, but I don’t know. That’s my explanation. It obviously was not on purpose.”
Doncic has been ejected twice in the last five games and has 15 technical fouls this season. One more would give him a one-game suspension, but luckily for the NBA star, the Flagrant 2 ruling doesn’t count toward his total. He was last ejected in the May 2 game against the Sacramento Kings, after earning his second T with just over 30 seconds remaining in play time.
But not all was lost. Before his ejection, Luka joined Oscar Robertson and LeBron James as the only players in NBA history to earn 5,000 points, 1,500 assists and 1,500 rebounds in their first 3 seasons playing, Caplan shared.
Despite Luka’s departure for the remainder of play, the Mavs ended up beating the Cavs Sunday night 124 to 97.
