Instantly Infamous Luka Doncic Press Conference Incident Was Actually a Teammate Prank

Stephen Douglas | May 10, 2024

Luka Dončić's press conference was interrupted by a NSFW prank. /

The Dallas Mavericks stole Game 2 to even their Western Conference semifinal series with the Oklahoma City Thunder at 1-1. Luka Dončić, fighting through injuries the whole night, still managed to score 29 points to go along with 10 rebounds and seven assists.

After the game he sat down to talk to the media, but before his press conference could begin, it was interrupted by ... some odd moaning.

It appeared that someone backstage was playing pornography somewhere and it was loud. Luka was clearly shocked before he recovered and made a joke to, uh, release the tension in the room.

Luka's press conference is interrupted by... sex, possibly?
"I hope that's not life" pic.twitter.com/KDx5JU0lkp

— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) May 10, 2024

The only question was, who? Who was playing the pornography at the Paycom Center close enough to Luka's presser that everyone heard it? Many people assumed it was a media member's laptop with Mike Golic Jr. going so far as to offer a possible motive—one of the Texas-based media members was taking advantage of the more lax internet regulations in Oklahoma.

Thankfully, we didn't need to wait long to find out the truth. On Friday's edition of The Athletic NBA Show, Tim Cato reported that it was a teammate pranking Luka.

It was a Mavericks player pranking Luka. @AndrewKSchlecht @tim_cato @AthleticNBAShow pic.twitter.com/F088UZbfHI

— J.E. Skeets (@jeskeets) May 10, 2024

"I had to clarify that it was a player to defend the honor of the media corps," Cato said. "The Dallas media corps. We don't do that kind of thing down here. Up in New York or other cities, I don't know how it works, but it was not a reporter accidentally opening his phone. It was not the real life act. It was being played through a phone to prank Luka."

Cato also wondered if he was now on the sex noises beat and would be tasked with finding out which player was behind the prank, but some questions are probably best left unanswered. Revealing the culprit's identity might lead to a fine or some kind of discipline. As of right now, this story has a happy ending.