There is no doubt that ever since the Dallas Mavericks lost in the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics in five games, people have been putting blame not just on Kyrie Irving, but also superstar Luka Doncic whether it be for his lack of intensity or maturity. However, Zach Lowe of ESPN was on “Get Up” as he touched on the criticisms towards Doncic while also putting those statements into perspective.
ESPN's Zach Lowe on the Mavericks addressing criticisms to Doncic
Someone who addressed the complaints and criticisms about Doncic was Zach Lowe of ESPN who no doubt mentioned that the Slovenian-born star has to get better in a ton of aspects. However, he would mention that the Mavericks have talked about these issues with Doncic a “1000 times.”
“It cost them points in game three of the finals, which is the one he ended up fouling out in in a series in which they had no margin for error as the underdog and look, you did talk about challenging them,” Lowe said. “They've talked to him about complaining to the refs 1000 times in Dallas, they've talked about his conditioning I'm sure 1000 times in Dallas, he can get better at those things. He will get better at those things. He's not the first player that has had to get better at them.”
Lowe defends Doncic saying Mavericks would be “nowhere without him”
However, Lowe does want to bring some of these doubters back to reality when saying that while the criticisms are valid, one has to remember that the Mavericks would be “nowhere without him.” Plus, he would claim that Doncic is “maybe the single most feared player in the league.”
“We don't want to be having these conversations about him when he's 30, 31, 32 and be like, are we still talking about this and there's been players that are in the league today and out of the league today that that's been the case,” Lowe continued. “But any discussion about Luka and what he is and what he isn't, should start with these two things. They are nowhere without him. They are not in the finals without him. He's an MVP candidate every single year, every single season, and he is maybe the single most feared player in the league to game plan against and that includes the Celtics when you talk to Celtics coaches in the finals about this, ‘Man we can't wait to get done with this dude, if we can just wrap this up, this dude is scary.'”
LeSean McCoy said the Mavericks star is the “worst All-Star” he's seen in his “life”
While the statistics would say otherwise, Super Bowl champion turned Fox Sports analyst LeSean McCoy took issue with how Doncic handled himself throughout the NBA Finals and how his lack of intensity led to Dallas coming up way short of their goals for a championship. McCoy would double down on his points and go in-depth about why he feels this way while saying that the 25-year old is the “worst All-Star I've ever seen in my life.”
“Luka is the worst All-Star I've ever seen in my life,” McCoy said. “He can score the ball, pass the ball, rebound all that, he has no effort on defense, he don't want to play defense, he don't hustle for no loose balls, he don't hustle for no lose rebounds. I watched Jrue Holliday about three or four times get extra rebounds. Kyrie [Irving] deserves it, but we don't give Luka no blame for nothing.”
“I watched Luka, I guess if he got injured or what or foul, he's laying on the ground. The ball is going this way,” McCoy continued. “He's still there. They scored it and now he's still just getting up. Any bounce you watch where they get on the ground and they get their butts up and get on defense. He has no type of urgency of playing solid basketball and I will not let my son that wants to be a basketball player, he wants to, but I wouldn't let him watch this tape. Because I don't want you to learn from a superstar like that. No hustle, no attitude don't care. Crazy. Kyrie Irving deserves all that blame and so does Luka.”
Other media personalities criticize Doncic during NBA Finals
McCoy was not the only media personality to talk about Doncic's performance in the NBA Finals and find issue with it as a viral moment was had with ESPN's Brian Windhorst. After the Celtics beat the Mavericks in Game 3 to take a 3-0 lead, Windhorst would talk about how his outing where he fouled out of the game with about four minutes in the fourth quarter and his defensive ability.
“I thought that it was perfect that Luka fell onto the ground there in an unacceptable position to put himself in with four minutes left and five fouls,” Windhorst said. “And then immediately looks over at the bench and says ‘You better bleeping challenge it’. As if it’s the bench’s fault that he just made a terrible play. I’m standing here in the Mavericks tunnel. Over there is the Celtics tunnel. That’s where the winners are. If Luka is ever gonna be a winner coming out of this tunnel here, he is gonna have to use what happened in this Finals as a learning experience.
“His defensive performance is unacceptable. He is a hole on the court. The Celtics are attacking him,” Windhorst continued. “They are ahead in this series because they have attacked him defensively. And you’ve got a situation here where is complaining about the officiating. They have begged him, they have talked with him, they have pleaded with him. He is costing his team because of how he is treating the officials.”
Mavericks should still be in contention next season for a title
In any sense, Doncic averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists per game while shooting 48.7 percent from the field in what was another exceptional season. He would lead the Mavericks to a 50-32 record which put them fifth in the Western Conference and resulted in an NBA Finals appearance, though they lost in five games as there is no doubt they will be hungry to get back next season.
“I’m proud of every guy that stepped on the floor, all the coaches, all the people behind,” Dončić said according to The Athletic. “We didn’t win (the) finals, but we did have a hell of a season.”
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