Stephen A. Smith calls Luka Doncic selfish after performance in Game 3 of the NBA Finals
Luka Doncic fouled out of game 3 of the NBA Final on Wednesday and national media heavily criticized the Slovenian superstar for his performance, mainly his defensive effort and demeanor.
Some of the criticism happened during the game with ESPN announcer Doris Burke criticizing Doncic for lying on the ground and complaining to the refs instead of hustling back on the defense.
Postgame, Brian Windhorst was even more critical of Doncic calling his performance unacceptable in a crucial must-win game while acknowledging he was the reason the Mavs have gotten to the finals.
“If Luka’s ever gonna be a winner coming out of [the Mavs] tunnel he’s going to have to use this finals as a learning experience,” said Windhorst, “His defensive performance is unacceptable he’s a hole on the court, the Celtics are attacking him. They’re ahead in this series because they’ve attacked him defensively.”
Stephen A. Smith also called out Doncic on First Take on Thursday for selfish and unaccountable behavior specifically criticizing Doncic for yelling at the bench to challenge his sixth foul on Jaylen Brown in the fourth quarter.
“Luka deserves most of the blame for this, it was a horrible performance,” said Smith, “It was because of the level of selfishness and lack of accountability, you are the superstar of the team, you’re supposed to be the leader of the team. Let’s put this in its proper perspective, we sit here today with Kyrie Irving being seen as the reasonable one...because Luka Doncic is so petulant and is so petty. Let’s not forget he’s screaming at the bench and screaming at his coaches.”
Doncic will have a chance to silence his critics when the series resumes on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at American Airlines Center.
This story was originally published June 13, 2024 at 11:09 AM.
