Dallas Mavericks superstar had yet another jaw-dropping performance as he single-handily led his team to victory over the Detroit Pistons.
Doncic finished with 53 points (14-24 FG, 5-11 3P), 8 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals. He joined GOAT frontrunners Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players with more than five games with more than 50 points scored in their first five seasons.
Despite all of that on-court greatness, however, it wasn’t even the most interesting part of the night for Doncic. That occurred in the final seconds of the game when he began jawing back and forth with players and coaches on the Pistons.
Yo! I’m crying… Luka Dončić and Pistons assistant coach Jerome Allen been talking all game and they are going back and forth while the Mavs dance crew is dancing 😂😂
Then Isiah Livers came to back up his coach and tell Luka get out of here and Luka asked him who are you? 💀
— Landon Thomas (@sixfivelando) January 31, 2023
Doncic, who had argued back and forth with Pistons assistant coach Jerome Allen throughout the game, had finally had enough of the exchange.
He and Allen yelled at each other on the sidelines and Detroit forward Isaiah Livers got involved, which didn’t exactly help to de-escalate the situation.
Luka telling Isaiah Livers, “Who are you?” has me in literal tears 😭😭😭😭 pic.twitter.com/SDNb8pKtqd
— Coopz (@Coopz___) January 31, 2023
Doncic looked at Livers, who is averaging 6.0 points and 0.8 assists per game through the course of his two-year professional career thus far, and savagely roasted him.
Like a high school bully, Doncic looked at Livers and asked “WHO ARE YOU?” before laughing in his face. Meanwhile, adding to the drama of this heated moment, the Mavericks dance team performed a routine nearby.
“Who are you?” is the best insult you can give to another NBA player.
"If they're going to chirp, I'm going to chirp back."
Luka not holding back 👀 pic.twitter.com/BuAGQ58Qpa
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) January 31, 2023
During his post-game interview, Doncic said Detroit’s assistant coach began chirping at him in the first quarter but didn’t like when he chirped back.
The Slovenian-born superstar added, however, that if someone is going to chirp at him, he is going to chirp back because he “ain’t scared” of them.
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luka was asked if he enjoys the shit talking in basketball, his sicko side really came thru in his response/reaction LOL pic.twitter.com/CcWJwH7y2O
— mike taddow (@MikeTaddow) January 31, 2023
Later in the night, during a press conference, Doncic was asked if he actually enjoys these verbal altercations.
He said that it gets him going “for sure” and that he does, in fact, enjoy it.
Opposing teams need to keep that in mind during the postseason because if there is one thing they will not need it’s to add any sort of fire underneath a player who already plays at the most elite level in the NBA.