After the tightly contested Lakers-Magic showdown on Saturday, it became clear that there were layers to the altercation between Luka Doncic and Goga Bitadze. Speaking to reporters after the Magic’s 105-104 loss, Bitadze offered his version of the events leading up to the double technical fouls being whistled on him and the Lakers superstar.
According to Bitadze, Doncic got extremely personal with his trash talk, leading to the Magic center delivering a verbal retaliation.
“He just said some inappropriate things in the Serbian language…I played in Serbia. I understand. I don’t know if he knew I understood what he said. So I just said it back.”
Bitadze, who played in multiple Serbian leagues prior to joining the 2019 NBA draft, claimed that Luka Doncic took a shot at one of his loved ones as they talked smack to each other.
“He said something about my mother. Which, it’s really inappropriate. We don’t say that stuff during the game.”
Still, the Georgian big man expressed remorse towards the things he said to Doncic on Saturday.
“If he feels like I said something too much or crossed the line, I apologize as a man.”
Throughout his post-game media availability, Bitadze insisted that he only repeated what had been said to him by Doncic. No matter what the true nature of the exchange was, the damage had already been done as Doncic’s technical foul tally now stands at 16, meaning that he is set to serve a one-game suspension.
Luka Doncic and Goga Bitadze Were Both “Warned” Prior to Double Technical Fouls, Says Pool Report From Lakers-Magic Game
Aside from the post-game interviews, the NBA’s pool report offers more context for the altercation between Luka Doncic and Goga Bitadze.
According to the pool report, Doncic and Bitadze were “both warned to cease their comments directed towards one another” prior to the referee calling double technical fouls.
Clearly, neither player heeded the warning as their smack talk went on to go viral.
