Luka Doncic Jokes About Working on Soccer Skills After Ejection for Kicking Ball

Dallas Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic took his ejection from Saturday's 111-99 defeat to the Indiana Pacers in stride.

Doncic received his second technical foul with three minutes remaining in the third quarter after punting the ball up in the air.

After the game, the 19-year-old told reporters he was merely trying to juggle the ball to himself and joked he needs to brush up on his soccer skills, per Fox Sports Southwest:

Doncic also said he wasn't aware kicking the ball would result in his ejection and that the offense wouldn't have been so significant in Europe, where he spent his basketball career prior to arriving in the NBA.

Many expected Doncic to go through some growing pains when he made the jump to the United States—learning not to kick the basketball into the crowd wasn't what fans had in mind, though.

When Doncic exited, the Mavericks trailed by 13 points, with Darren Collison connecting on the technical free throw to make it a 14-point game. Overcoming that deficit was all but impossible for Dallas without one of its best players.

Saturday's transgression will only be a footnote in an otherwise excellent first season for Doncic. The Slovenian is averaging 20.0 points, 6.7 rebounds and 5.1 assists.

Doncic is likely headed to his first All-Star Game considering he was the second-leading vote-getter (3,301,825 votes) among Western Conference frontcourt players in the league's most recent All-Star returns.