Luka Doncic is living very dangerously right now.
The Los Angeles Lakers star Doncic had a curious moment during Sunday’s game against the New York Knicks. In the third quarter at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif., Doncic lost his dribble and turned the ball over.
That ignited a 3-on-1 fast break by the Knicks with Doncic serving as the only Lakers player defending the basket. He attempted to step in and take a charge on New York forward Mohamed Diawara, but the referees did not blow a whistle, resulting in a dump-off pass by Diawara to Knicks teammate Josh Hart for the easy layup.
In response, Doncic, who had hit the deck following the contact from Diawara, looked at the nearest referee and appeared to make the money sign at him (effectively alleging that the ref had been paid off). Here is the video.
LUKA DID THE MONEY GESTURE TO THE REFS pic.twitter.com/VPvOFLIBPe
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) March 8, 2026
The six-time All-Star Doncic has drawn plenty of ire this season for his incessant complaining to the referees. He is now sitting at 15 technical fouls on the year (one away from an automatic one-game suspension) and even made Lakers head coach JJ Redick look bad with his latest T from a few days ago.
In the end, the Lakers wound up defeating the Knicks by a comfortable 110-97 final score. But Doncic will likely be facing a sizable fine from the NBA over the apparent money gesture, possibly even akin to the one that Rudy Gobert once got for making the same sign during a game.
