{"id":624808,"date":"2026-02-25T22:02:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:02:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/624808\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T22:02:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:02:19","slug":"luka-doncic-has-been-accused-of-crying-after-lebron-james-incident","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/624808\/","title":{"rendered":"Luka Doncic Has Been Accused of \u2018Crying\u2019 After LeBron James Incident"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> walked off the floor in Orlando with more questions than answers. A 110-109 loss to the Magic on Tuesday dropped them to 34-23 and tightened the Western Conference race. The final possession designed for Luka Doncic<\/a> instead ended in confusion, with LeBron James<\/a> taking a rushed three-pointer that missed just as the buzzer sounded.<\/p>\n

This moment has sparked considerable discussion. On ESPN\u2019s \u201cGet Up,\u201d analyst Tim MacMahon offered pointed criticism of Doncic\u2019s long-standing habits.<\/p>\n

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Earlier in the third quarter, Doncic failed to get back on defense after arguing for a call, leading to a Magic basket. \u201cLuka\u2019s had two glaring flaws throughout the course of his career, conditioning and crying,\u201d MacMahon said. \u201cThe conditioning he has made major strides in. He\u2019s crying as much as he ever has.\u201d<\/p>\n

MacMahon added context. \u201cLuka vents his frustration at the referees. So the more he\u2019s frustrated, the more he\u2019s whining, he\u2019s crying, and he worries more about sometimes the three guys in the gray jerseys than the five guys in the opposite jerseys.\u201d<\/p>\n

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This criticism came right after a pivotal moment. With 6.7 seconds left and the Lakers trailing by one, the ball was inbounded to Doncic. Coach JJ Redick confirmed the play<\/a> was drawn up for him. \u201cWe obviously ran a play for [Luka] to get a look. I felt like we had a decent shot,\u201d Redick said.<\/p>\n

Doncic appeared to have space for a three but hesitated, picked up his dribble, and passed to James, who missed a contested attempt. Afterward, Doncic accepted responsibility.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know I was open, but I just thought I was a little bit far,\u201d Doncic said<\/a>. \u201cI probably shouldn\u2019t have picked up the ball and just tried to attack. \u2026 That\u2019s on me.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\"Los<\/p>\n

Los Angeles Lakers forward\/guard Luka Doncic (77) talks with Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) against the Washington Wizards during the second half at Capital One Arena.Brad Mills-Imagn Images<\/p>\n

(Brad Mills-Imagn Images)<\/p>\n

James seemed surprised by the pass. \u201cI thought he had a good look,\u201d James said. \u201cI was kind of off balance when he gave it to me. I thought he had a great look.\u201d<\/p>\n

Statistically, Doncic nearly produced a triple-double, finishing with 22 points, nine rebounds, and 15 assists in 38 minutes. He shot 8-of-24 from the field and 2-of-10 from three. Since returning from a hamstring strain before the All-Star break, he has averaged 28.3 points, 9.7 assists, and 6.7 rebounds over three games.<\/p>\n

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Still, the Lakers have lost two straight and four of six. Once firmly in the top six, they are now just two games ahead of the seventh-place Phoenix Suns<\/a>, with the play-in tournament looming as a possibility.<\/p>\n

For a franchise that reshaped its roster to pair James with Doncic in high-leverage moments, the expectation is clear. Big plays. Big shots. Fewer distractions.<\/p>\n

The Lakers next face the Suns and Warriors on the road. With playoff positioning at stake, the focus shifts from debate to response.<\/p>\n

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Related: NBA Makes Ruling Change After Clippers’ Loss to Lakers<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally published by Athlon Sports<\/a> on Feb 25, 2026, where it first appeared in the NBA<\/a> section. Add Athlon Sports as a Preferred Source by clicking here.<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Lakers walked off the floor in Orlando with more questions than answers. A 110-109 loss…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":624809,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,1661,185,150,368,47,472,4136,255,468],"class_list":["post-624808","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-basketball","tag-jj-redick","tag-lebron-james","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-luka-doncic","tag-orlando","tag-phoenix-suns","tag-tim-macmahon","tag-warriors","tag-washington-wizards"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116133531966529611","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624808","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=624808"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/624808\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/624809"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=624808"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=624808"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=624808"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}