LOS ANGELES — Chicago Bulls coach Billy Donovan still isn’t certain exactly what Nikola Vučević said to the officials to earn a double-technical ejection from Sunday’s win over the Los Angeles Lakers.
Donovan was well within earshot when Vučević shouted down referee Sean Corbin after receiving his first technical foul, which immediately triggered a second technical from crew chief Tony Brothers. It wasn’t a matter of volume or proximity; Vučević was speaking Serbian, a language that Donovan, Brothers and Corbin don’t understand.
“I don’t know how they can T him up when he’s talking Serbian,” Donovan said after the game. “He may have been asking them if they wanted to go out to dinner that night.”
Vučević exclusively curses in Serbian when he’s on the court, a trait that often helps him to avoid trouble as a typically levelheaded veteran. But that didn’t protect him in the second quarter Sunday — and his ejection nearly upended a critical win for the Bulls.
Officials are typically expected to give players a few moments to calm down after receiving a technical. Donovan advocated for this to Brothers, who reviewed the play before informing Donovan there was adequate time between the two fouls for Vučević to settle himself.
“They felt like there was enough of a delay after the first one for him to kind of step away,” Donovan said. “And he didn’t. I don’t have any problem at all with the officials in that moment, I just thought in the moment it was just like ‘bang, bang.’”
The Bulls recovered from Vučević’s absence by relying heavily on center Andre Drummond, who started the second half. Drummond finished with 12 points and eight rebounds as he helped the Bulls shut down Lakers star center Anthony Davis, who scored only 15 points.
Vučević took responsibility for his decision-making following the game, but praised Drummond’s ability to quickly step into his position and close the game.
“Obviously it was a bad decision by me to react the way I did in a game as important as it is for us,” Vučević said. “I’ve got to control my emotions a little better in the moment. It was my mistake, I’m just glad my teammates came through and won the game for us. It makes me feel a little less bad about myself.”
