Luka Doncic got victimized by the letter of the law over the weekend.
During Sunday’s game vs. the Phoenix Suns, the Los Angeles Lakers star Doncic was whistled for a rare violation. Doncic got Suns center Nick Richards switched onto him on the perimeter in the second quarter and tried to attack him off the dribble. As Doncic made his move though, he was called for a violation by referee Nick Buchert.
The violation? Palming the basketball.
The NBA rulebook makes clear that “a player who is dribbling may not put any part of his hand under the ball and (1) carry it from one point to another or (2) bring it to a pause and then continue to dribble again.” Thus, Doncic did indeed commit a violation there by stopping his dribble, putting his hand under the ball, and then dribbling again.
But palming is so common in the NBA these days and is so rarely called that the rule is essentially obsolete at this point. Even ESPN’s Richard Jefferson, who was calling the game for the network, said that it had been “years” since he had last seen a palming violation called.
Fortunately for Doncic, the palming call ended up being an extremely minor footnote to the game. He finished with 33 points and 11 rebounds (both game highs) to go along with eight assists as the Lakers beat the Suns 107-96 to snap a four-game losing streak. Doncic also had some fun during the contest, roasting the Suns and Kevin Durant while he was mic’d up.
