Luka Dončić repeatedly complained about receiving technical fouls! He had a verbal altercation with the Polish center, who denied deliberately provoking him.

On August 29th, during the FIBA EuroBasket group stage, Slovenia was defeated 95-105 by Poland in their first match. Dončić logged 36 minutes, hitting 7 of 14 shots, 3 of 9 from beyond the arc, and 17 of 18 free throws, totaling 34 points, 4 rebounds, 9 assists, 5 steals, and 2 blocks. His fiery temperament persisted during the game, leading to multiple complaints to the officials and a technical foul. In the final quarter, he also engaged in a verbal confrontation with an opponent, who later denied intentionally trying to provoke Dončić.

European media noted that despite Dončić’s impressive individual stats, the focus in the second half shifted away from basketball to emotional clashes. Dončić repeatedly made gestures in protest of what he perceived as unfair referee calls and argued with officials; in the fourth quarter, he became involved in a heated altercation.

With 7 minutes and 33 seconds remaining and Slovenia trailing 75-85, Dončić and Poland’s center Olejniczak became physically entangled on the floor, which sparked a verbal dispute between the two.

“It’s nothing serious, really nothing,” Olejniczak explained after the game. “It’s just a basketball game, you know. This was the first match of the tournament, so emotions were running high. Honestly, nothing special happened, nothing worth discussing much.”

When asked if Poland had a strategy to deliberately provoke Dončić, Olejniczak denied it: “No, not exactly. We were just focused on playing the game, though some of our players were definitely fired up. Like I said, it’s the first game of the tournament, and everyone wants to win. This is a crucial match for every team, so sometimes emotions naturally take over.”

However, the big man admitted that Slovenia’s frequent disputes with the referees ultimately worked in Poland’s favor: “Definitely. If we can get them to spend energy complaining to the refs during the game, that’s absolutely beneficial for us.”

Next, Slovenia will face France, while Poland prepares to take on Israel.