NBA fines Dallas star for his ‘inappropriate’ gesture toward refs during Warriors game

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic fined $35,000 for directing a money sign toward officials in the final seconds of a loss to the Golden State Warriors.

NEW YORK — Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic was fined $35,000 on Friday for directing a money sign toward officials in the final seconds of a loss to the Golden State Warriors.

Doncic walked toward officials while rubbing his fingers together with 1.7 seconds left in the 127-125 loss on Wednesday night. The four-time All-Star apparently was upset that a foul wasn’t called when he missed a layup.

Dallas was trailing 125-122 when Doncic caught a pass under the basket and his layup bounced off the back of the rim. After the Mavericks committed a foul to stop the clock, Doncic made the gesture.

The NBA said the fine was for “an inappropriate and unprofessional gesture toward a game official.”

Officials didn’t give him a technical over the gesture. Doncic frequently complains to officials and is one technical foul away from 16 this season, which would trigger a one-game suspension. The count doesn’t carry over into the playoffs.

Dallas owner Mark Cuban said he planned to protest the loss to the Warriors over a sequence late in the third quarter that led to an uncontested dunk for Golden State’s Kevon Looney.

The Mavericks thought they had possession coming out of a timeout and lined up on their offensive end. The Warriors inbounded on the other end with no defenders, leading to Looney’s easy bucket for a 90-87 Golden State lead.

The NBA has fined Luka Doncic $35,000 for making a money gesture at a referee after a no-call late in the Mavs-Warriors game Wednesday night.pic.twitter.com/MJnjIvd0Yt

— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPointsApp) March 24, 2023

Before the timeout, official Andy Nagy signaled possession for Golden State when the ball went out of bounds, but quickly pointed to the Dallas bench to indicate a timeout.

The Mavs contended that official Michael Smith must have thought Dallas had possession because he was on the same end of the floor as the Mavs. Dallas believed officials should have stopped play to sort out the confusion.