Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić verbally sparred with ESPN reporter Tim MacMahon following Wednesday night’s 132–109 loss to the visiting Phoenix Suns.
The impetus? A social media post from MacMahon showing a vocal Suns fan being ejected from American Airlines Center after heckling the Dallas star.
“Luka, you’re tired!” the Phoenix fan yelled. “Get your a– on the treadmill.”
Dončić said after the game that the fan also yelled obscenities at him.
“I knew you would be the first one to point out something like that,” Dončić told MacMahon at the postgame press conference. “I’m not gonna say what he said, but I knew you would be the first one to put out something like that. … You’ll be the first one to always put something bad about me.”
Dončić opened up a bit more when pressed by MacMahon and other reporters for more details about why he wanted the fan ejected.
“He was cursing at me the whole first half too,” Dončić said. “… I never would eject a fan. They paid for tickets, but I had enough. It’s a little bit of frustration.”