On a night when Luka Doncic had a dominant performance against the Celtics, he also apparently had an altercation with the team’s owner.
it is Reports say Boston claimed Celtics owner Wyck Grousbeck “provoked” them out of a game at TD Garden and that Mavericks star forward Doncic “started yelling back” in the second half, leading Boston to a 105-98 triple-double in Game 2 of the NBA Finals.
“Celtics owner Wyck Grousbeck taunted Luka Doncic on the sideline, then Doncic took the next shot and started yelling at him in the front row,” The Athletic’s Jay King posted on X on Sunday.
King explained the background in a follow-up post. write“As Doncic was inbounding the ball, Gresbeck had his hands up in Doncic’s direction making a ‘T’ sign and looked like he wanted to call Doncic down with a technical foul. Doncic didn’t seem to like that, judging by the play after the next score.”
The incident appears to have occurred in the third quarter.
Doncic, who scored 32 points on Sunday despite being questionable before the game, was asked after the game about his interaction with Grousbeck.
“Luka, you’ve had some interaction with the owner of the Celtics, has he done or said anything that you feel is overstepping the line?” the reporter asked. Doncic, 25, responded: “Sorry, I don’t know who the owner of the Celtics is…”
When asked if he had spoken to anyone in the front row, the five-time All-Star replied, “No.”
The taunts against Doncic and the Mavericks began early Sunday.
During pregame warmups, Doncic posed for photos with some young Boston fans. Who said“You know the Celtics are going to win in four games, right?”
The next two games in the series will be in Dallas, starting with Game 3 on Wednesday.
Doncic’s teammate and former Celtic Kyrie Irving has already told the Boston crowd: They’ll be back in Game 5.
