LeBron James rips NBA referee for ‘taking it personally’ after Luka Doncic ejection

The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, but the result could have been a lot different. With seven minutes left in the 4th quarter and the Lakers holding a one-point lead, NBA referee J. T. Orr took exception to something Luka Doncic seemingly said to a fan and tossed him out of the game.

The Thunder didn't look back from that point, running the board with the Lakers once the Slovenian phenom was sent packing. There were also a couple more decisions that went wrong for the Lakers in the aftermath, with Jarred Vanderbilt receiving a technical and Orr missing a couple of blatant fouls on Austin Reaves.

LeBron James on Luka Doncic’s ejection in the fourth quarter: “It was a weird couple minutes after that — starting with the ejection. I don’t know why the ref was taking it personal. … Just weird as hell after that moment.” pic.twitter.com/SslQtqEQbD
— Jovan Buha (@jovanbuha) April 9, 2025

LeBron James took exception to it and addressed it in the postgame, saying, "Yeah, it was a weird couple of minutes after the ejection. I don't know why the ref was taking it personal. He had already gave Luka one, and Luka knew that.

"Luka was going back and forth at the time with a fan that was sitting courtside like Luka does... The ref took it upon himself to think it was versus him, whatever the case may be... It was just weird as hell after that moment."

The Lakers were leading at the time, and that stretch more or less decided the outcome of the game. Luka Doncic had 23 points. 3 rebounds, and 5 assists when he was ejected and would have played a massive role in what should have been a clutch game.

This should be a lesson to Luka Doncic to be even more careful, especially considering that Wednesday will mark his return to Dallas for the first time since being traded. It promises to be emotional, but no matter what, he will have to avoid getting into it with the referees.

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