The chaos from Tuesday, April 9, when the Los Angeles Lakers lost to OKC hadn’t even cooled when the NBA decided to stir the pot again. Luka Dončić’s sudden ejection had already flipped the game and now, the league had something to say about it.
But instead of closure, it just brought more outrage. Lakers fans, still reeling from what felt like a rigged fourth quarter, were handed an update that did little more than twist the knife.
NBA Admits Mistake, but Fans Aren’t Buying It
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin reported that the NBA has officially rescinded Dončić’s second technical foul. On paper, that clears his name. In reality? It changed nothing. Dončić had just given L.A. the lead with a clutch jumper when he was ejected for what ref J.T. Orr believed foul language directed at him. Dončić pointed to the crowd, pleading his case, but the refs didn’t budge.
Now, the league says the call was wrong. Too bad the Lakers were already buried by a 29–12 Thunder run that followed.
Fans on X weren’t having it. One snapped, “Sh** so useless, it doesn’t change the outcome of what happened. Start publicly fining refs like y’all do players.”
Another mocking over pointless decision threw a well pointed jab saying:
“Now what? 🤦🏾♂️ this changed the whole course of the quarter. If this were the playoffs the stakes would be even higher. Orr needs to be penalized in some fashion or form.”
The sarcasm flowed, but so did the frustration. “So the ref don’t get a punishment at all?”
One fan asked, echoing what many were thinking—where’s the accountability?
“What is this gonna do for him ? Lmfao”
Dončić Continues to Grapple with Bad Officiating
This wasn’t the first time the Slovenian star had to bite his tongue. Back in March, after a tough loss to the Brooklyn Nets, he vented his anger over bad officiating: “It wasn’t fair, but we’ve still got to play the game.” The pattern is starting to look familiar.
And it didn’t help that just seconds after Dončić’s ejection, Jarred Vanderbilt got hit with another tech, and Austin Reaves got no whistle on a blatant foul. The Lakers, once tied 112-112, crumbled and lost 136–120. Dončić finished with 23 points, 5 assists, and 3 rebounds in 31 minutes. But the loss postponed their playoff-clinching win.
One fan encapsulating the frustration rightly summed it up :
“Now go pick up the game from where it left off when that happened”
Interestingly, the NBA has rescinded nine techs in two months. Jayson Tatum, Max Strus, and now Dončić. But none of those came with the playoff race on the line.
Thankfully, Dončić got his redemption. In his emotional return to Dallas on April 9, he dropped 45 points to lead the Lakers past the Dallas Mavericks and into the playoffs. But for Lakers fans still thinking about that OKC game, a rescinded foul feels more like salt on the wound than justice.
