Courtside Fan Ejected for Throwing Ball Hard at Referee: Doncic Confronts Him and Flags Security
With 2:35 left in the third quarter of an NBA regular-season game at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Sacramento County, California, on the night of November 4, a courtside fan threw an out-of-bounds ball hard at game official Chelisa Painter. Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Dončić confronted the fan on the spot and signaled security to remove him from the arena. The moment was captured by spectators and spread widely on X, Instagram and other platforms on November 5, with reposts by sports accounts including TSN and Jomboy Media drawing tens of thousands of likes.
According to Heavy, Larry Brown Sports and other sports outlets, a Kings turnover had sent the ball out of bounds near the baseline seats. The fan picked it up and, instead of handing it back, threw it forcefully toward Painter. Some reports said the ball struck her arm, while others said she deflected it with her hands. Painter was not injured, and play resumed shortly after the fan was removed, with no lengthy delay.
Dončić, who was nearby and saw the throw clearly, immediately pointed at the fan and confronted him, then signaled to arena security. Kings security escorted the fan out of his courtside seat. Dončić then walked over to check on Painter, who answered him with a thumbs-up.
After the game, Dončić explained his reaction to ESPN reporter Anthony Slater. In a November 5 post on X, Slater quoted him as saying: "He just tossed it really strong — the ball — toward the ref. I just asked him what the hell he's doing." No public explanation has emerged for why the fan threw the ball so hard.
The Lakers won the game 116-103 on the road. Dončić finished with 40 points, nine rebounds and seven assists, his third straight game of at least 40 points, as the Lakers won their third in a row to improve to 7-2; the Kings fell to 1-7. GSM's sports desk has published a separate report on the game itself; this story covers only the courtside incident.
Painter is in her first season as a full-time NBA official. The league announced on October 14 that she was one of three officials promoted from the G League to the full-time staff for the 2026-27 season. As of Thursday morning, November 5, neither the Lakers nor the Kings had publicly named the fan or issued a statement about any further action.
Source: ESPN
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 卢卡·东契奇本人资料图（2026年1月摄于克利夫兰，Erik Drost摄，CC BY 4.0，经Wikimedia Commons），非本场事发现场图
