The Los Angeles Lakers (48-26) will be without All-NBA and All-Star guard Luka Doncic when they host the Washington Wizards (17-57) on Monday night.
On Saturday, the NBA announced a one-game suspension for Doncic after he collected his 16th technical foul of the season in the Lakers’ 116-99 win over the visiting Brooklyn Nets on Friday night. Doncic and Nets forward Ziaire Williams were assessed a double technical after Doncic lightly shoved Williams in the back in the third quarter.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick addressed Doncic’s suspension at practice on Sunday.
“I mean, he’s disappointed,” Redick said. “He wants to be there for his teammates. Again, I’ve talked about this all year: he plays. Like, he’s not a guy that takes games off. He can get banged up, and he’s gonna play. He was like that when I was his teammate in Dallas.”
Redick played his last of 15 NBA seasons with the Dallas Mavericks in 2020-21, which was Doncic’s third year in the league. Redick retired in September 2021 and became the Lakers’ head coach in June 2024. The Mavs traded Doncic to the Lakers in the blockbuster heard ’round the world in February 2025.
After the Lakers’ win on Friday, Doncic was asked about picking up his 16th technical foul.
“He was yelling in my face three times,” Doncic told reporters. “I just wanted to get out of there. It’s a double tech, of course. What can I say? I didn’t even talk. I just wanted to get out of there. They said I push — my push was exaggerated, which [it] was obviously not. I don’t know what else to tell you, man.”
Outside of the 16th tech, Doncic had a notable performance against the Nets. He logged 41 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and five steals. That has become a mundane stat line for Doncic, but this time, it put him in rarified air.
The Lakers posted that Doncic is the first Laker since the late Kobe Bryant in 2012-13 to record 100 steals in a season. He’s also the first Laker in franchise history with 2,000-plus points, 500-plus assists, and 100-plus steals in a single season, per StatMuse.
Doncic is closing in on his second-career NBA scoring title. Overall, Doncic has averaged 33.7 points, 8.2 assists, 7.8 rebounds, and 1.6 steals across 62 games.
The Lakers are the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference with eight games to play. Of the remaining games, Doncic’s missing the Wizards game is the least consequential.
The Lakers will play the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder, with a league-best 59-16 record, on April 2 and April 7. In between, Doncic will face his former team when the Lakers visit Dallas on April 5. The NBA playoffs tip off on April 18.