Luka Doncic calls out 'dangerous' NBA Cup court

Luka Doncic calls out ‘dangerous’ NBA Cup court

Apr 9, 2025; Dallas, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) in action during the game between the Dallas Mavericks and the Los Angeles Lakers at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Luka Doncic is calling for the NBA to make changes to the courts utilized for NBA Cup games.

Doncic’s Los Angeles Lakers beat the Los Angeles Clippers 135-118 in their game at crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night. The Lakers’ home court was painted in yellow to notate that the game was an NBA Cup contest.

Doncic, who played in similar in-season tournaments when he played in Europe, was asked after the contest about the NBA Cup component of the game. Doncic said he was used to it from his time in Europe, but he made one request.

“Adjust the courts, please. It’s just slippery. It’s dangerous,” Doncic said. “I slipped a lot of times. You could see a lot of players slip. That’s dangerous, man.”

“It’s just new courts.”

Luka Doncic on the special NBA Cup court: "Adjust the courts, please. It’s just slippery. It’s dangerous.”

Luka Doncic mentions the problem with the court, twice, during the postgame conference.

Here are the two instances pic.twitter.com/I1MIQwiqG1
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) November 26, 2025

The courts being slippery did not stop Doncic from producing. He shot 14/28, including 7/12 on three-pointers and scored 43 points in the Lakers’ win. He added 9 rebounds and 13 assists.

Thanks to the win, the Lakers clinched West Group B in the NBA Cup, which puts them into the quarterfinals of the event.

The Los Angeles Kings had hosted a game at the same venue the night before. It’s unclear whether that had any role in the court for the NBA Cup game being as slippery as Doncic said it was.