Luka Doncic still can't escape the costly habit Mavericks fans hated

Luka Doncic has been on a tear for the Los Angeles Lakers recently, which is something that can be tough for Dallas Mavericks fans to continually reckon with, but Mavericks fans won't be surprised to see that Doncic recently got his 16th technical foul of the season. This will trigger an automatic one-game suspension unless the Lakers and Doncic are able to get the technical foul rescinded, as this almost happened multiple seasons in Dallas.

Doncic has notoriously been a hot head when it comes to barking at referees, and he's never been able to shake this trait besides a few short stints of cooler temperament. However, his 16th technical he received on Saturday night actually came in an argument with another player instead of a referee, as Doncic and the Orlando Magic's Goga Bitadze got into an argument while Doncic was at the free throw line, resulting in double technicals assessed to them.

Per Doncic's postgame interview, Bitadze was making foul remarks about Doncic's family in Serbian, but Bitadze claimed postgame that he was simply reciting the same trash talk that Doncic was using toward him earlier in the game. It's interesting to see two European players clashing like this in Serbian, but it's hard to say who was in the wrong in this instance, considering Doncic and Bitadze have conflicting claims.

Doncic could face one-game suspension for getting 16th technical foul

Regardless, though, the majority of Doncic's technical fouls have come from arguing no-calls this season, just as was the case in Dallas. Doncic has repeatedly said he'll try to be calmer toward referees, but he's never succeeded at this in his career overall, as Mavericks fans know all too well this one of Doncic's few flaws.

Mavericks fans were always upset when Doncic would argue calls and not get back on defense, and this is an issue that has still plagued him in Los Angeles. This isn't to discredit Doncic whatsoever, as most Mavericks fans will always have his back based on what he did for the organization and given the way the trade unfolded, but it's certainly funny that he still can't shake getting technical fouls despite being in a new situation.

Mavericks fans miss Doncic — but not his constant complaining

Even if Doncic serves his one-game suspension, it probably won't hurt the third-seeded Lakers much at all, as the regular season is close to ending, and Doncic's technical foul count will reset at the start of the playoffs. This issue could get more drastic for Doncic if the Lakers were to make a deep playoff run and he starts getting close to seven technical fouls in the playoffs, as that would cause him to miss a playoff game, but obviously, things haven't progressed to that extent yet.

Mavericks fans undoubtedly still miss Doncic, especially with him scoring like a madman and leading the Lakers to a likely top-four seed, while the Mavericks are sitting at 13th in the West with a record of 23-48.

However, if there's one thing Mavericks fans can be relieved about in terms of having a star like Cooper Flagg instead of Doncic, it's that Flagg competes relentlessly on both sides of the floor at all times and never lets the referees get in his head despite numerous times where referees have given him rookie treatment on no-calls.