Luka Doncic has been the subject of a heap of criticism following his antics in Dallas’ Game 3 loss and a former NBA player has some brutal advice for the guard.
Jay Williams blasted Luka’s lack of ability on the defensive end and also his weight, following the Mavericks’ Game 3 106-99 loss to the Celtics.
“You can’t win championships if you have really bad habits and body language,” Williams said on ESPN‘s Get Up. “And then you do a ton of sh*t all the time. Let’s be honest — those are the things we associate with Luka on the defensive end. Offensively, he is prolifically great, but his habits [on defense] are not really good.”
Williams went on to give some suggestions for Luka to undertake over the summer and says that he needs to take a good, long look at himself.
“This offseason, he needs to lose weight,” Williams said. “Let’s be honest about it, he needs to be better defensively. He can be functional defensively — not good — but functional defensively, and make sound decisions when his conditioning is better down the stretch. Then, he can win a championship. This is his moment of clarity.”
Luka picked up his sixth foul with 4:12 to go in the fourth quarter while trying to defend a fast break by Boston.
The defensive foul was clear to see, but Doncic aggressively suggested the Mavs needed to challenge the call.
The challenge was unsurprisingly unsuccessful, and Luka fouled out.
ESPN‘s longtime analyst Brian Windhorst went on a lengthy rant from American Airlines Center after the game about how disappointing Luka’s behavior was.
“Luka fell to the ground in an unacceptable position to put yourself in with 4 minutes left with 5 fouls. And he immediately looks 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,” Windohrst said after the game. “I’m standing here in the Mavericks tunnel, that’s the Celtics tunnel (shows) – that’s where the winners are. If Luka’s going to be a winner coming out of this tunnel, he’ll have to use what happened in this Finals as a learning experience. His defensive performance is unacceptable.”
READ MORE: NBA World Roasts Luka Doncic For Awful Defense, Constant Complaining