DALLAS — Luka Doncic has received intense criticism since Game 3. The Dallas Mavericks dropped the game against the Boston Celtics and Doncic fouled out and struggled on the defensive end of the floor. Mavs head coach Jason Kidd was certainly not a fan of the negative Doncic takes.
“Yeah, I think when you look at today's athlete, the game of sport is not to be perfect,” Kidd said. “It's just, you know, to win. And when you look at what's come out here in the last day or so, if you've watched the Mavs, Luka has improved his defense. But we are asking him, or some are asking him, to be a shutdown defender. Well, he's never been on an All-Defensive Team, but he's been on five All-Pro Teams, first team. So that means he's one of the top five players in the world, and he's playing the game the right way where he can find open guys.
“But when you're on the biggest stage, there's got to be — someone's got to poke a hole. This will only make the great ones better. When you look at, we talked about it yesterday, with LeBron, Michael, the greats, the G.O.A.T.s, they all were poked at and they came back stronger and better.”
Jason Kidd believes Luka Doncic will grow ‘stronger' from learning experience
Doncic has worked hard to improve on the defensive end of the floor. Sure, he is not a terrific defender, but he is working to improve. Yet many analysts took aim at his defense and fired off some shocking takes.
Kidd made an eye-opening comment about those takes.
“I truly believe Luka will come back stronger and better. Some criticize that he could never get this far. But he's here… We win together and we lose together. And that's — we lost three in a row. We are trying to find a way tonight to win.
“But sometimes when you are a free agent in the media business, you've got to say something crazy to get a new contract, or likes, or clicks.”
What Doncic has accomplished at only 25 years old is incredible. He's already led the Mavericks to two Western Conference Finals and has a legitimate argument for being the best player in the NBA.
Mavs have Doncic's back
Kidd also discussed the impact of the criticism on the team. The Mavs head coach knows Dallas has Luka Doncic's back.
“I think this is a special group when you talk about that group in that locker room,” Kidd said. “They protect one another. They play for one another. They play the game the right way. They cheer for one another. And so is there extra? I don't think there's going to be extra. I think the motivation right now is to get off to a good start and find a way to get a win.
“But nothing changes about the way the group feels about Luka. Tonight I expect everybody to play their A Game.”
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