of dallas mavericks hosted phoenix suns Wednesday night in a matchup between two Western Conference playoff contenders. A close game in the first half turned into a close game in the second half, with the Suns coming away with a 132-109 road victory over the Mavs.
Unfortunately for one Suns fan who braves enemy territory in Dallas, he won't be able to stay long enough to watch the Phoenix onslaught as Mavs superstar Luka Doncic was asked by security to remove him from the building. There wasn't.
Fans began heckling Doncic over his conditioning, calling him to “get his ass on the treadmill.” Doncic did not welcome the comments at his home arena, forcing security to get fans up from their very expensive seats. Watch the video of Doncic pointing at the fan he kicked out here.
“Luca, I'm tired, get on the treadmill!”
Luka Doncic's reaction to fan voices.
Luka Doncic then pointed out fans being talked to by arena staff.
Kyrie Irving walked over and looked at the fans who had just left.#sans 100 #mavs 78 after 3. pic.twitter.com/6npgrJhj6J
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 25, 2024
Here's a video of a fan being kicked out of the arena.
Luka Doncic asked security to remove the Suns fan, who was sitting two rows behind the press row in the center of the court. Comment from a fan that angered Doncic: “Luka, you're tired!'' Please put your butt on the treadmill! pic.twitter.com/chNYwiJBC0
— Tim McMahon (@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 fans kept taunting him throughout the first half, but he eventually had enough.
Luka Doncic and Tim McMahon have been going back and forth over Luka's tweet about him taunting him throughout the game and asking fans to leave in the second half.
Luka: “You're always the first to say bad things about me.” pic.twitter.com/eAIRbKyVkn
— Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) January 25, 2024
The reaction on social media was similar to Doncic. Must have thick skinand its fans Didn't say it bad enough kicked out of the game. Of course, the home fans don't know exactly what those fans said to Doncic all night.
The Suns outscored the Mavs 43-20 in the third quarter, turning the game into a rout. Doncic was clearly frustrated with the way the game was going and didn't want to hear Phoenix fans keep yelling at him.
Are the Mavs too thin to advance in the playoffs?Earlier this week, Mavs wing Tim Hardaway Jr. I got mad at the jumbotron operator in Dallas. They showed us a clip of Jaylen Brown knocking Doncic over with a clever crossover dribble.
This is the Mavs' third straight loss. If the season ended today, Dallas would be the No. 8 seed in the West. The team has bigger problems to worry about than fan heckling.
