Sacramento Kings guard Dennis Schroder was recently suspended three games for "confronting and attempting to strike" Luka Doncic after a matchup involving the Los Angeles Lakers and Sacramento Kings on Dec. 28 (per The Athletic). On Tuesday, ESPN's Shams Charania provided more details on the situation that led to the suspension.
The NBA insider revealed that Schröder "camped out" in the hallways of Crypto Arena and attempted to hit Luka when he got him alone.
Doncic and Schroder have been beefing heavily on the court recently, with things getting intense during that Dec. 28 game. Rumors suggest that Doncic has mocked Schroder for fumbling an $84 million contract in 2021.
Charania outright reported that Luka has been calling Schroder the "B-word" during their recent meetings on an NBA floor. Lakers fans have reason to be divided over Luka's bad blood with Schroder: Is this a sign of competitive fire from Doncic, emotional immaturity, or a bit of both?
Luka Doncic's beef with Dennis Schroder is tough to decipher
Luka is as hot-blooded a superstar as you'll find in the NBA, and that's usually a good thing. He's super competitive, and his hatred of losing will often cause him to get into tussles with opposing players and/or the refs.
Most of the time, Luka's inner fire only amounts to positive outcomes on the court. Fans loved that Michael Jordan was like this, and fans love that Luka is like this.
This Schroder situation is a little bit different, though. Comparing Luka's competitive nature to MJ's on-court demeanor (which is sort of a universally lauded standard in the NBA) isn't entirely accurate.
Jordan's in-game antics rarely — if ever — revealed an athlete who was a slave to their emotions. Despite his terrifying intensity, Jordan wasn't one to turn the blade of anger or ref frustration upon himself and let it affect his play.
The same can't be said for Luka, at least not yet. This is definitely the main area of growth for Doncic, along with his yucky defense.
There will be times when Luka lets his emotions take the steering wheel, and he'll have a sequence of three or four possessions in a row (on both ends) in which he's essentially mentally checked out. This is unacceptable and deeply damaging to a team, especially coming from a superstar.
Luka Doncic's reaction after Dennis Schroder said "I'm gonna beat the shit out of you" pic.twitter.com/KSo1UsN0uk
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The Schroder beef aligns more with this problematic side of Luka than it does with some competitive beast. By the way, why is Luka picking on a player so inferior to his own status in the league?
This would be a different situation if Doncic was beefing with Giannis Antetokounmpo or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. We'd see that as epic gamesmanship, and we'd be calling Luka a warrior who doesn't back down from anyone.
But when you're picking on someone smaller than you (in size and NBA status), it's not a good look. Luka only looks weaker for allowing someone like Schroder to get under his skin a bit and distract him from the basketball game. If the buzz is true about Luka hating on Schroder's money situation, that's even more cringey.
No one should ask Luka to be less emotional or less passionate. That would be a mistake, as it's a huge part of what makes him special.
But it would also be a missed opportunity if Luka doesn't learn to better harness these emotions and apply them in more productive ways. At the very least, focus on bigger fish in the pond than Schroder and the lowly Kings.