Luka Doncic defends female referee after fan throws basketball at her, helps get him escorted from arena

Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

Luka Doncic defends female referee after fan throws basketball at her, helps get him escorted from arena

By Ty Bronicel | Last updated Nov 5, 2026 1:15 PM ET

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Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luke Doncic is constantly criticized for complaining to NBA referees.

On Monday night against the Sacramento Kings, though, instead of yelling at a ref, he was defending one.

Luka Doncic has role in getting courtside fan ejected from Kings game

Doncic was in the middle of another 40-point performance -- his third straight -- when the ball went out of bounds.

A fan aggressively threw the ball back onto the court, striking referee Chelisa Painter in the arm.

Afterward, ESPN's Anthony Slater asked Doncic about the interaction between the referee and the fan, whom the 27-year-old guard pointed to while shaking his head .

“He just tossed it really strong — the ball — toward the ref. I just asked him what the h— he’s doing.”

Luka Doncic helped get a courtside fan removed tonight after he fired the ball at an official.

Luka postgame: "He just tossed it really strong -- the ball -- toward the ref. I just asked him what the hell he's doing."

Here is the soundbite/sequence/removal. pic.twitter.com/1iae3ByYi4
— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) November 5, 2026

The fan was escorted from Golden 1 Center and Doncic went back to work.

Doncic finished with 40 points, his sixth straight game with at least 35, in the Lakers' 116-103 win.

He also made six three-pointers and 12-of-13 free throws to lead the Lakers to their seventh win in nine games this season. He also had nine rebounds and seven assists.

Ty Bronicel

Ty Bronicel is a veteran sports writer/editor/blogger with over 30 years of experience creating web content and has worked for world-renowned companies such as MSN, Yahoo, USA Today, and ESPN. He graduated from the University of Utah (Go Utes!) and is a Salt Lake City native who currently lives in the Beehive State. His expertise is movies and streaming shows, college football, NBA, and college basketball.

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