"Defending Knecht like his little bro" - Lakers fans pumped after Luka Doncic confronts Bruce Brown for Flagrant on $18.2M rookie

LA Lakers fans were pumped after seeing Luka Doncic stand up for rookie Dalton Knecht following his tussle with New Orleans Pelicans guard Bruce Brown. During the third quarter, Knecht broke away for an easy look at the rim, but before he could make it, Brown pulled him down while he was airborne by grabbing his arm.

Knecht took a hard fall and grimaced in pain. As Doncic went to check up on him, he bumped into Brown and pushed him with his arm, as the Pelicans guard seemingly said something to Knecht. A melee broke down between the teams shortly after Brown and Doncic exchanged words.

Jarred Vanderbilt and Trey Jemison III were the key instigators of that chaos as players and staff from both teams tried separating the duo from getting into an altercation with Bruce Brown and the Pelicans players.

Brown was eventually assessed a Flagrant foul penalty 1, while Vanderbilt got a technical foul for his actions. However, Lakers fans weren't bothered about that. They were glad to see Luka Doncic stand up for Dalton Knecht and the rest eventually following up.

Here's what one X user wrote online after seeing Luka Doncic get involved:

"Luka defending Knecht like his little bro"

Another wrote:

"Luka and Vando stepped to Bruce Brown after that hard foul on their rookie Knecht. Double tech issued, but no more antics from BB after that. Me likey."

One fan used a John Cena and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson meme to describe the incident.

Another added:

"Luka standing up for Dalton ready to scrap is perfect. As long as Dalton's not too hurt, perfect team.building moment."

One fan said:

"LUKA GOING TO BAT FOR DALTON KNECHT. I LOVE IT."

One fan tweeted:

LeBron James reacts to Luka Doncic and veterans standing up for Dalton Knecht

The Dalton Knecht incident was one of the highlights of the game from a Lakers' perspective, where everyone got to witness how close the team's bonding is despite the major roster shakeup. With Knecht, there was more history involved, considering he nearly got traded and returned in unusual circumstances after Mark Williams failed his physical.

However, that didn't matter for the Lakers. LeBron James summed up moments like that third-quarter instance is massive for the team after the game. Here's what the four-time MVP said about Luka Doncic and others standing up for Knecht:

"We're a very close knit group. We want to protect each other no matter what throughout the course of the game."

James also gave special shoutouts to 'enforcers,' Jarred Vanderbilt, Trey Jemison III, Dorian Finney-Smith and Jordan Goodwin for bringing that culture to the team and ensuring things don't escalate outside the lines of basketball.