Watch Luka Doncic's Shocking Gesture After Refs Swallow Whistle On Charging Foul

Luka Dončić is walking on thin ice right now. One more technical foul, and he’ll be serving a one-game suspension in this crucial stretch, dealing the Los Angeles Lakers a major blow as they fight for playoff position.

On Sunday, Dončić came dangerously close to the scenario haunting the nightmares of the Lakers organization. Could he have avoided that precarious moment? Perhaps.

The moment came in the third quarter of the Lakers-Knicks game at Crypto.com. With under five minutes left, Doncic turned the ball over and found himself on the wrong end of a 3-on-2 fastbreak. Seeing Knicks forward Mohamed Diawara barrelling through the paint, Dončić got into position to take a charge. Diawara collided with him but was able to dump the ball to Josh Hart, whose layup counted as Doncic failed to get the whistle for a charging foul.

As Dončić lay on the baseline, the cameras zoomed in on him, just in time to catch the Slovenian star doing the “money” gesture with his hands.

The Lakers went on to win the game 110-97, but in the mold of great Hollywood films like The Matrix, Dončić dodged a bullet right there. The “money” gesture, after all, is a classic playground insult to insinuate that a certain individual (say, a referee) is getting bribed to do something disadvantageous to another person. Or another team.

It’s hard to imagine what Dončić was thinking when he made that gesture, but his tally of technical fouls is crystal clear. Last week, the six-time All-Star got whistled for his 15th tech of the season during a Lakers-Nuggets game. As per the NBA’s rulebook, a player who incurs a 16th technical foul will serve a one-game suspension on the very next play date of his team’s schedule.

That’s something the Lakers can’t afford right now, as they have by no means secured a spot in the Western Conference’s top six. The purple and gold squad is currently in fifth place, but they hold an identical 39-25 record with the Denver Nuggets. Not far from them are the Phoenix Suns (37-27), who have found ways to stay afloat despite Dillon Brooks’ fractured hand.

Dončić’s intention to play good defense (something he’s been criticized for his whole career) was clear in that sequence with Diawara. Whether it was necessary to do the “money” gesture afterwards is another discussion.