As the game between the Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks began winding down, fans at the American Airlines Center and throughout the NBA landscape noticed Luke Walton and Luka Doncic have an exchange.
From the visual aspect, it seemed like the coach and the opposing star player were throwing barbs towards each other. However, the Kings head coach came forward to deny any allegations of him being aggressive towards the 20-year-old superstar.
Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News was able to get a snippet of the post-game interview Walton said. According to him, he didn't say anything insulting to the first-time All-Star.
“Yeah, I don't know. I have all the respect in the world for him. He got what he wanted tonight, wherever he wanted. I wasn't saying anything to him. I don't know if he thought I said something to him. He had a great game. He's a great player and he led his team to victory. Give him credit.”
Doncic was simply unstoppable on the night. He finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and eight assists on 56% field goal percentage and 43% from deep. His solid performance helped his team get the W.
Moreover, Walton talked about the contributions of Doncic's teammate, Kristaps Porzingis, as part of the reason why he didn't feel the need to talk trash with the player:
“I wouldn't have said anything (to him). What can you say? Between him and Porzingis, they handled the game. Nothing but praise for him as a player. He had a great game.”
Mavs fans and some Kings supporters may have seen things progress differently, but the truth cannot be denied: the Kings are still far from giving a full-strength Mavs team a tough basketball game.
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