The Lakers appeal for Doncic! The two involved parties describe the altercation differently—can the 16th technical foul be rescinded?

On March 22 Beijing time, according to ESPN, team sources disclosed that following the Lakers' 105-104 narrow victory over the Magic, the Lakers have appealed to the league to rescind Doncic's technical foul in this game. At the same time, the accounts of Doncic and Magic center Bitadze regarding the cause of this foul differ.

This is Doncic's 16th technical foul this season. If this foul is not rescinded, according to the rules, he will automatically be suspended for one game in the Lakers' upcoming match against the Pistons on Tuesday due to accumulating 16 technical fouls.

With 1 minute and 19 seconds remaining in the third quarter, while Doncic was at the free-throw line, the two engaged in an altercation, and referee Cogut issued technical fouls to both players.

After the game, Doncic stated: "I certainly hope this technical foul can be rescinded. Honestly, receiving this foul, I let my team down. I didn't intend to do it.While he was shooting free throws, he insulted my entire family. This is a basketball court, but some words are unbearable; I had to stand up for myself. I know I need to do better in the future. My teammates always support me, and today I disappointed them. I hope the league can rescind this technical foul."

Bitadze later told ESPN and the Orlando Sentinel via phone interview: Doncic first insulted him in Serbian, and he merely responded with the same words.

"I greatly respect Doncic and his achievements, and I respect anyone's family. In my homeland, family is sacred; I would never actively insult someone's family. He first said inappropriate things in Serbian. I played in Serbia and understand the language. I don't know if he realized I understood; I just repeated exactly what he said. I had no intention of targeting him or his family; I sincerely respect his family."

When asked about the specific offensive words exchanged, Bitadze said: "He first uttered offensive words about my mother, which were very inappropriate. Such language shouldn't be used in basketball. So I simply returned exactly what he said to me."

Bitadze added: "It was just emotions running high at that moment. Hearing him say that, I could only respond similarly. If he feels my words were excessive or crossed a line, as a man, I am willing to apologize and take responsibility. But I merely repeated his words; I did not actively insult him."

According to sources, in their appeal, the Lakers requested the league to review the third-quarter incident and argued that the referees should have issued warnings first rather than immediately calling technical fouls.

After the game, head referee Mark Davis explained the reasoning for the call in the officials' report, stating that warnings had been given beforehand: "Doncic and Bitadze were both assessed technical fouls for persistent mutual provocation. Between the two free throws, the referees warned both players to stop verbal attacks. After the free throws ended and before the ball advanced, they continued to exchange unsportsmanlike remarks, hence technical fouls were issued according to the rules."

It is worth noting that during Doncic's tenure with the Mavericks, he twice reached his 16th technical foul, and both were ultimately rescinded by the league.

Despite receiving a technical foul and Doncic's poor shooting in the second half—2 out of 13 field goals and 0 out of 7 three-pointers—he scored 33 points and 8 assists overall, helping the Lakers secure a nine-game winning streak.