Usually when we see Luka Doncic getting mad it’s him venting to a referee about a missed foul call. In terms of getting mad at other players Luka usually seems reserved, and lets his basketball do the talking in response. However, during Mavericks matchup with the 4th seeded Jazz, Rudy Gobert really got under Luka Doncic’s skin. The interactions between them led to an altercation at one moment during the game.
Luka Doncic Almost Fights Rudy Gobert After He Pushes Him Down During Mavericks vs Jazz
After throwing a nice alley oop to his teammate Dwight Powell, the camera caught what appeared to be Rudy Gobert pushing Luka Doncic down to the court. The way he reacted while he was down on the ground made it seem like Luka Doncic wanted to fight Rudy Gobert in response to the shove.
However, his teammates quickly came between them, while Doncic started making what seemed like a “get him out of here” gesture. Rudy Gobert already had one technical foul, so Luka was assuming the play would get him his second which meant an automatic ejection.
However, on closer look at the play you could see that Rudy Gobert inadvertently pushed Luka Doncic down. Unless he has superhuman vision it seemed like he had his back turned when he made contact with him. On the flipside they were also close enough before the contact happened for Gobert to realize it was Luka standing behind him.
The beef between these two competitors was an all game long story. There was a moment where Luka Doncic mocked Rudy Gobert’s flopping techniques, which went viral on social media.
There was also this moment where Luka Doncic talked trash to Rudy Gobert the entire way down the court after hitting a three over him. If this was NBA 2K, Luka had the mismatch expert badge on Hall of Fame level during this play.
In the end this night belonged to Luka Doncic as he finished with an impressive stat line of 35 points, 16 rebounds, and 7 assists. Rudy Gobert had a solid night as well putting up 12 points and 13 rebounds.
This makes Mavericks 5th win in a row, and they are now only a half game back from being tied with the Jazz for 4th place in the West. They are also only 3.5 games back from the 3rd seed held by the Memphis Grizzlies. Jason Kidd has Luka and company playing at a championship level right now.
