Luka Doncic got a Suns fan booted out of the arena for telling the Mavs star to get on a treadmill.
The Dallas Mavericks hosted the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night in a matchup of two Western Conference playoff hopefuls. A close game in the first half turned into an absolute blowout in the second half, with the Suns running away with a 132-109 road victory against the Mavs.
Unfortunately for one Suns fan braving enemy territory in Dallas, he didn’t get to stick around long enough to watch Phoenix’s big push, because Mavs superstar Luka Doncic asked security kick him out of the building.
The fan started heckling Doncic over his conditioning, telling him to “get (your) ass on the treadmill.” Doncic did not appreciate the comment coming in his home arena, and had security boot the fan from his very expensive seats. Watch the video of Doncic pointing to the fan he had ejected here:
“LUKA YOU TIRED, GET ON THE TREADMILL!”
Luka Doncic reaction to fan incoming.
Luka Doncic has since pointed out the fan, who is being talked to by arena staff.
Kyrie Irving walked over and was looking at the fan, who just left.#Suns 100 #Mavs 78 after 3. pic.twitter.com/6npgrJhj6J
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 25, 2024
Here’s a video of the fan being kicked out of the arena.
Luka Doncic asked security to eject this Suns fan, who was sitting two rows behind midcourt press row. The comment the fan made that drew Doncic’s wrath: “Luka, you’re tired! Get your ass on the treadmill!” pic.twitter.com/chNYwiJBC0
— Tim MacMahon (@espn_macmahon) January 25, 2024
After the game, Doncic criticized ESPN reporter Tim McMahon for posting about the incident in his press conference. Doncic also said the fan was cursing at him the entire first half, and he eventually had enough.
Luka Dončić and Tim MacMahon go back and forth about him tweeting about Luka asking for a fan to be ejected in the second half, after cursing at him the whole game.
Luka: “You’ll be the first one to always put something bad about me.” pic.twitter.com/eAIRbKyVkn
— Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) January 25, 2024
The reaction on social media seemed to be that Doncic should have thicker skin, and that the fan didn’t say something bad enough to be kicked out of the game. Of course, fans at home don’t know exactly what the fan was saying to Doncic throughout the night.
The Suns blasted the Mavs in the third quarter, 43-20, to turn the game into a rout. Doncic was clearly frustrated at how the game was playing out, and he didn’t want to listen to some loud Phoenix fan continue to yap at him.
Are the Mavs too thin-skinned to make a deep playoff run? Earlier this week, Mavs wing Tim Hardaway Jr. got upset at the jumbotron operators in Dallas for showing a clip of Jaylen Brown making Doncic fall down with a nifty crossover dribble.
The Mavs have now lost three games in a row. Dallas would be the No. 8 seed in the West if the season ended today. The team has bigger problems to worry about than heckling fans.
