The Los Angeles Lakers‘ hopes of winning 10 straight on Monday are now in jeopardy. Luka Doncic scored 33 points against the Orlando Magic on Saturday, but not before receiving another technical foul. Even head coach JJ Redick wants to get this one rescinded because the Slovenian was simply defending his family. With 1:19 to go in the third quarter, he was caught exchanging trash talk with Magic center Goga Bitadze. But before getting the T, Doncic explained to the referee why he had a problem with Bitadze at the free-throw line.

“I don’t care if people talk s– but don’t talk about my family! Imma f–k you up!” a Laker Nation fan account transcribed on X, quickly identifying what the Lakers superstar allegedly said to the official about Bitadze. After the free-throw attempts, when both players were walking up the floor, they were still chirping at each other. So, the referee put a stop to it and handed double technicals. For Doncic, though, it was the worst blow.

Doncic received his 16th such foul and will be suspended for Monday’s game against the Pistons. The Slovenian will have to serve a one-game suspension per league rules. But the head coach was confident that they would fight to get it rescinded.

The media asked Redick if he had received any explanation from the officials about the technical on Doncic. “No, but we’ll obviously try to get that rescinded. I’m not sure what happened. I do know that there were certain things said in a language that the referees couldn’t understand in reference to Luka’s mom.” Redick added more pressure on the refs as he concluded with “they didn’t have a real good control of that basketball game.”

Even though Bitadze is Georgian, he played basketball in Serbia prior to the NBA. Since Doncic also speaks Serbian, this could have been the language used during the trash talk. Doncic has been in this situation before, and his 16th technical foul could be rescinded. In fact, that’s happened to him twice in April 2022 and March 2023 when he played for the Dallas Mavericks. With Redick also demanding the same, the league could be forced to act on this, since Doncic had already explained his case before getting the T.

Luka Doncic reveals how Goga Bitadze crossed the line and vice versa

After the game, Luka Doncic confirmed that the Magic center did say something personal. Doncic hopes this will be rescinded and is sorry if he lets his team down by missing the next game. He made it clear that he was trying to protect something very personal at that moment.

“I’m definitely hoping,” Doncic said. “Obviously, I let my team down. But honestly, I wasn’t trying to. He (Goga Bitadze) said it free throw, he will f— my whole family. And at some point, you know, this is a basketball court. At some point, I got to stand up for myself.”

Bitadze also presented his point of view soon after. He said that he has “all the respect” for Doncic but alleged that the Lakers star started the banter by blurting out “some inappropriate things.” When the Magic player was asked to clarify what was said to him, he said that it was “something about my mother, which, it’s really inappropriate. We don’t say that stuff during the game.” Bitadze, in his defense, told the media that he just repeated everything back.

Crew chief Marc Davis explained in a pool report after the game that a warning was handed to both of them. They failed to follow instructions and continued going at each other after the two free throws, after which they were “both correctly assessed technical fouls for their unsportsmanlike comments directed towards one another.”

Doncic also confirmed that the language the officials couldn’t understand was Serbian. His personal life has been the talk of the town for the past few weeks. The Lakers star is in a child custody battle with his ex-fiancée, Anamaria Goltes. One of those arguments also required police intervention after Doncic’s second child was born.