German national basketball team captain Dennis Schröder has been suspended for three games by the North American professional league NBA “for a confrontation and an attempted hit.” The NBA announced this on Saturday (local time).
The incident occurred on December 28th “about 40 minutes” after Schröder’s Sacramento Kings’ 101-125 loss to his former team, the Los Angeles Lakers. Schröder waited for the other player “in a hallway in the hall and started the confrontation,” the statement said. According to consistent US media reports, the player confronted was said to be Lakers superstar Luca Doncic.
Schröder and Doncic had already engaged in “trash talk” several times during the game. According to ESPN, Doncic mocked the German World and European champion during a timeout and told him he “should have signed the contract” – a reference to the four-year, $82 million contract extension Schröder was said to have rejected from the Lakers a few years ago. Schröder himself had denied this specific offer several times in the past.
There are video recordings of the game in Los Angeles that got him banned, in which Doncic can be heard shouting: “You should have signed the contract.” Schröder is not in the picture in the excerpt, but it is not clear whether the scene is related to the rumored confrontation.
“Be back on court soon #3,” Schröder posted in his Instagram story in response to the suspension. He commented on a post by NBA insider Shams Charania with “attempting (trying, editor),” an eye and smile emoji.
The Kings will meet the Lakers again in Sacramento on Tuesday night in Germany. Schröder will be suspended for this game and the 32-year-old will also miss the games against the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks. Schröder will not receive any salary during this period. Based on his salary for this season, he will probably lose a little more than 291,000 US dollars (around 250,000 euros).
This is not the first time for Schröder that he has been suspended in the NBA. The last time that happened was more than six years ago, when he was under contract with the Oklahoma City Thunder and was not allowed to play for a game after a pack was formed.
