When a player wears purple and gold, everything they do is magnified by the Los Angeles spotlight. Whether it’s fair or not, stars that play for the Lakers (and with LeBron James) are held to a higher standard. No matter what happens, they will be subject to harsh criticism. Luka Doncic is learning that the hard way.
Before the season started, the Lakers rightfully had lofty expectations. But with less than 20 games left in Doncic’s first full season on the team, they are fighting to stay out of the play-in tournament.
And lately, Doncic has taken more blame than he deserves.
Loud
When a star-studded team like the Lakers is less than spectacular, there’s bound to be some criticism. But unfortunately, the valid critiques regarding their woes have shifted into widespread, unfair diminishment of Doncic.
On March 5th, the Lakers lost to the Denver Nuggets, and Doncic picked up his 15th technical foul of the season. The day after, sportswriter Tim MacMahon began questioning Doncic’s habits on the ESPN morning show “Get Up.”
“I don’t want to hear how much Luka wants to win if he’s going to continue to prioritize whining instead of running back on defense,” MacMahon said. “He’s putting his team in a bad spot over and over and over again.”
Later that day, other ESPN analysts took the criticism a step further. A panel comprised of David Dennis Jr., Vince Goodwill, and Chris Canty shared their thoughts on “First Take.” On the show, they debated whether or not Luka Doncic was underachieving as the superstar of the Lakers.
An entire segment of one of the network’s biggest debate shows was dedicated to questioning whether the league’s leading point-per-game scorer is underachieving in his first full season with a new team. Despite the absurdity, the panel was convinced.
They discussed how Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison essentially told the world that Luka is a loser by trading him. As such, he should be determined to prove Harrison wrong. However, as Goodwill explains, “The fact that he hasn’t elevated himself and begun to try—he tries on occasion, and then it tails off.”
This kind of dramatic discourse isn’t new, especially when it comes to the Lakers. But it has taken center stage at an unfair scale and rate.
Unfounded
Criticism about Doncic’s defense or tendency to complain to officials is valid. Diminishing his ability as a player to that of a loser is not. Let’s not forget that Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals two years ago. At 25, he led his team in points, rebounds, assists, and steals per game in the Mavericks’ 4-1 series loss to the Boston Celtics.
After playing only 22 games with the Mavericks the next season, Harrison traded him to the Lakers. To call a perennial MVP candidate a losing basketball player is disingenuous. Especially when that player is two years removed from a Finals appearance.
Let’s put Luka’s career into perspective by comparing him to his teammate. LeBron James is arguably the greatest basketball player ever. Over his first seven seasons, Doncic’s career has been quite similar to LeBron’s early years.
In his first seven seasons, LeBron made the playoffs five times, including one Finals and another Eastern Conference Finals appearance. In Doncic’s first seven seasons, he made the playoffs five times, including one Finals and another Western Conference Finals appearance.
LeBron didn’t win his first championship until he was 27 years old. Doncic turned 27 this calendar year. Now imagine how ridiculous it would be to call LeBron a losing basketball player. Doncic obviously isn’t the two-way legend that LeBron is, but his résumé speaks for itself. Luka is a walking 29 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists per game who has proven he can lead a team to championship contention.
It is far too early in Luka Doncic’s career and his Laker tenure to say that he is underachieving because he is a losing player. Give him a chance to embrace the Los Angeles spotlight before we push him out.
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