Luka Doncic, Rudy Gobert exchange unpleasantries — during and after Mavs’ win over Jazz | townbrad
“I mean, just emotions,” he said. “Just basketball. Europeans, we play with a lot of emotions sometimes. The game, I think the officials have got to be able to get in check on both sides and make sure that no lines are crossed — whether it’s verbally or with actions.
“Yeah, there was a lot of things being said out there. At some point, we’re men, too. ... For me and for my team, I’ve just got to keep my mind in the right place. My team needs me in the game. But, at the same time, it’s like when you’ve got guys on the bench, you know that don’t play and just keep talking and saying some stuff. Officials can hear and they don’t do anything, as a man it’s like, ‘Is it worth being suspended?’ And we should not have to ask ourselves that question.
“I think they’ve just got to do a better job of keeping that in check for this. It’s actions, but the words carry weight, so if someone is disrespecting you, at that point as men we ask ourself: ‘Stay on the court and not penalize our team?’ Or, do we want to stand up for ourselves?”“A lot of things that are being said that wouldn’t be said outside a basketball court,” he said. “A lot of things I don’t ever say.
In the third quarter, Doncic and Gobert again became entangled. In hindsight, both were able to laugh at the moment, but at the moment it happened? Not so much.