The Phoenix Suns have been heading in the wrong direction for the better part of the last two months, and even Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic seemed to question his opponent’s effort level on Sunday.
Doncic got out to a fast start in the Lakers’ game against the Suns at Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles, Calif. Both Doncic and Kevin Durant were mic’d up for the ESPN broadcast, and Doncic made a telling comment about the Suns during one timeout in the first half.
After draining a few wide-open three-pointers in the first quarter, Doncic was heard telling some of his teammates he has “never been so open in my life.” You can hear the comment at around the 18-second mark:
Luka and KD mic'd up for ESPN is hilarious 😂
— LakeShow Highlights (@LSH_lakeshow) March 16, 2025
KD – You ain't getting that call in the playoffs
Doncic – Yes I am 😈
LOL pic.twitter.com/UIS0sNPsSs
Durant spoke earlier in the game about the importance of contesting Doncic’s shots. The two-time NBA Finals MVP told his teammates that they were not going to stop Doncic from scoring but could not give give up open looks.
“We not gonna stop him from scoring, bro. We can’t come into a game thinking we’re about to stop their best player from scoring,” Durant said. “We gotta just make it tough on him. We can’t give him 12 assists and 40 points, though.”
"We're not going to stop him from scoring… we've gotta make it tough on him."
— NBA (@NBA) March 16, 2025
Kevin Durant gave Luka Dončić high praise while mic'd up on ABC 🎙️ pic.twitter.com/d2BLrfz1xw
It looked like Durant’s advice fell on deaf ears.
The Suns had lost 14 of their last 20 entering Sunday. Durant and Mike Budenholzer got into it once again on the sideline during Sunday’s game, with the Suns coach reportedly asking Durant why Doncic was getting so many open looks. You can see the video here.
That was the second time in less than two weeks that Durant and Budenholzer have drawn attention for one of their sideline interactions.
The Lakers were also struggling entering Sunday with four straight losses as LeBron James recovers from an injury. Doncic had it going early, though, and he was not impressed with Phoenix’s defense.
