Luka Dončić is inarguably one of the greatest basketball players in the world. He also, it must be said, is willing to engage in a dialogue with officials about their calls. This certainly does not make him unique in the 2026 NBA world, but his lobbying for calls can be annoying to teams playing the Los Angeles Lakers. And apparenty opposing announcers.
Here's Eric Collins, the voice of the Charlotte Hornets, offering a blunt assessment of the superstar.
"This guy is a whiner," Collins said.
Eric Collins is SICK of Luka Doncic 😭
— BrickCenter (@BrickCenter_) January 16, 2026
“This guy is a WHINER” pic.twitter.com/C4Q6F0is4Z
Now, it was a big night for the Hornets. They overcame some early suspect officiating without complaining too much and cruised to a 135-117 victory. They are now 15-26 and just four games away from the Eastern Conference's 10th seed and entry into the Play-In tournament. Dončić, unable to multitask while doing all that whining, only scored 39 points on 15-of-26 shooting.
Look, being a bit in the tank for the home side is part of the gig with local broadcasters. And NBA players do complain a great deal about both bad calls and very obvious good ones as well. So Collins isn't necessarily wrong. But it might be awkward the next time a Hornets player lobbies their case with an official.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Hornets Announcer Calls out Luka Dončić for Annoying Trait.
