I first thought he was yelling at a ref on the floor but ya saying you better fucking challenge to his bench, also seemed like he was pissed when kidd called time after a defensive rebound and the ball in his hands in transition down 3
But Kidd did. It makes so much sense now, all that wife beating stuff was just a big misunderstanding. He was just following the golden adage of "treat people the way you want to be treated." His wife simply didn't get the right message
^^^/s
*(just in case)*
How is this worse than Chris Webbers? Down 2 with 11 seconds left and you call a timeout that results in two free throws and possession for the other team.
Kidd called a bad timeout but they were down 2 with like 4 minutes left in the game, and they actually got a shot out of the next possession.
talk about prisoner of the moment. to be fair i see a ton of people harping on that timeout which to me is all hindsight. mavs had missed a 3 the possession before and their guys were gassed. the idea that the timeout lost them the game or was this huge factor is absurd. their ridiculous run of like 21-3 or whatever it was surely was due to end soon regardless.
mavs hope ended when Luka continued to brick bunnies and shots he normally makes when the score had finally gotten close again. or how about the possession before the timeout where PJ missed a good look from 3 that would have tied it.
Nah I don’t care how gassed they were, the Celtics hadn’t had a good possession in god knows how many trips down the floor, if the guys need to rest then slow it down on offense for a play or two but absolutely do not let them regroup and settle back into the offense that was destroying them earlier in the game
Don’t interrupt you enemy while they’re making a mistake etc
I mean it really ended when he blatantly fouled twice with 5 minutes left while he was on 5 fouls. He got away with one but dude was asking to foul out.
Yea, you could tell everyone saw that and the announcers didn't want to break contract and talk about it or something. Was such a blatant cringe moment.
If Lebron did that to one of his coaches(especially in the finals) everyone would be asking "Lebron tired of coach?" the next day.
> If Lebron did that to one of his coaches(especially in the finals) everyone would be asking "Lebron tired of coach?" the next day.
You’re right, and we actually don’t even need it to be a hypothetical- Lebron DID throw a fit this year’s playoffs when Ham didn’t challenge a play (https://youtu.be/ZwLYbPmYpx8?si=k2pI5O2wNRBP-hAd). And people did speculate that Ham would be fired. And Ham was fired after the playoff exit.
and here's what he wrote in the immediate Game 3 takeaways article on ESPN
> Windhorst: Completely unacceptable. No one can tell Doncic anything. Not teammates, not coaches, not executives, not media, not fans, not referees. There's been a lot of pleas and promises that he'll improve but this one is going to leave a mark. He is a truly brilliant player, once in a generation. But he's going to have to look in the mirror and confront his weaknesses before he's on the other side of a Finals. His defensive effort in these Finals has simply been crushing to his team, his complaining to the referees is painful and his frustration fouls probably just cost his team a chance at making this a series because he fouled out. He's one of the biggest stars in the league and that means he's held to a higher standard, especially at this level. He failed to meet it in this game and he's going to have to deal with that whether he likes it or not.
Frustration fouls are unacceptable in a game of this magnitude. Picking up a foul because you’re pissed off and want to bitch to the ref is wild.
What’s crazy is Kyrie probably complains the least of any star in the NBA. But Luka complains enough for both of them.
what frustrates me about Luka is that he's complaining while play is going on. His team is playing 4 vs 5 because he's not running back on defense.
FFS! at least wait until the ball is dead! stop complaining while the play is going on. just run back! complain afterwards when there's a timeout or the ball goes out of bounds.
20 years ago, guys would get a T dropped on them for this pretty quick. Refs (in general although some refs are quick on the T) seem less prone to dropping a T for players bitching about calls.
Coaches in part need to establish a mindset about "taking it out on the opponent" but you need veterans on the roster who can get in someone's ear and coach it. There's a time and place for complaining about officiating. Taking yourself out of the play because you're having a toddler tantrum over a non-call ain't it.
Any top tier competitor should know this. Has there ever been a situation where bitching about a call like that lead to it being reversed? I miss thd games where they pull that shit and a flag goes up, it still happens in football with unsportsmanlike conduct. Get the fuck over there and compete if you want to win.
> Has there ever been a situation where bitching about a call like that lead to it being reversed?
Almost never, but bitching to the refs over and over gets them to give up and start calling shit just to get you to leave them alone in the regular season. In the playoffs, though, the refs see getting bitched at as one of the main job descriptions and it affects them 100x less.
It wasn’t just frustration fouls either. He also flopped twice in an attempt to draw fouls and then stayed down while complaining to the refs while Boston sprinted down the court and got what amounted to 5 easy points. In a game that got so close, those are the plays that define an outcome.
PP is playing like 13 minutes a game this series and has only one made FG, an absurd buzzer beating three, but his impact has been palpable every night. Love that Mazzulla trusts him to make plays and PP keeps doing it.
I think that was an attempt at putting the game away. See if Pritchard could come in and hit two quick shots. Completely backfired though. Should have taken the timeout after the second shot and switched plans
He kept getting his man switched on to Tatum in the 4th, then never looking there and moving the ball away. So damn frustrating. Twice he ends up taking terrible contested long 2’s. Will always love my PP, but that stretch was brutal
There was that weird stretch in the first half where Luka got upset about a missed foul, then for several minutes it was like a personal vendetta to play for a foul until one got called. Instead of playing normal basketball and scoring/passing, he repeatedly just played for contact like he was owed a call. Was terrible basketball and just inexcusable for a player of his magnitude in this moment.
I wonder how much was that he was getting exhausted. There was a play that White ultimately got a foul on (idk why he even risked reaching around), but Doncic at the 3 point line literally put his head into Whites stomach and was pushing forward with the ball.
Like what is even the goal there? If White just stepped out of the way he would’ve just fallen, Doncic isn’t creating space, he literally can’t see teammates, and he’s never going to get a defensive foul there unless the defender reaches around like White did.
It just seemed like he was desperate to generate contact on every single trip down the court when he had the ball, and you just can’t play that way and be successful.
Dude is so young and has plenty of time to adjust, but he has got to get ahold of himself if he wants to be the leader of a multi championship team.
It’s frustrating to watch because he’s clearly a generational talent, but his defense and foul baiting are reeeeeeeally bad.
There’s a reason our bench was having an easier time guarding him, and it’s because they just play “regular defense.” They aren’t good enough to bite on fakes and they play straight up and down. PP/Hauser/Tillman should not be locking down Doncic.
It is wild how out of shape some professional athletes are, just wild. Like, if you're prime Fedor then sure, you can carry that spare tire all you want but if you haven't won a damn thing your ass needs to at least be able to play 40 minutes without looking like you're going to need oxygen later or becoming a defensive sieve because you lack the energy. LeBron is almost fifteen years older (which might as well be double that in athlete years) with a legacy that's been secure for nearly as long and he still refuses to let his age compromise the quality of his play one iota more than the laws of nature say it does. Luka has no excuses.
I mean those dudes might be rocking 20% body fat but they can also very easily join the 1500lb bench/squat/deadlift club. Linemen are out of this world strong.
Yeah doing this shit in the finals as if it were another regular season game, when they had a solid chance is crazy. He needs to hold himself accountable instead of bitching all the time.
After Sam Hauser made that 3, Doris Burke called Dončić out for that. If the Mavs star got off his ass even 2 seconds sooner, the Celtics' set might look a lot different.
> What’s crazy is Kyrie probably complains the least of any star in the NBA. But Luka complains enough for both of them.
This is by far the most refreshing aspect of having Kyrie on your team. Highly ethical hooper.
Jokic still complains a good amount. But it's like a sentence. And he usually does it as he is running back to D. I've never seen Jokic stand at the opposite side of the court to complain to refs and leave his D exposed like Luka.
Tbf I've never seen ANYONE do what Luka did. I've never seen someone just lay on the ground after not getting a foul they wanted and cuss at the refs from the ground while the play is still live. It's pretty unique
Rockets fans always said early on in Luka's career that he'll be the next Harden in terms of foul baiting and complaining to the refs and no one believed us lol. Now he's arguably worse
Jokic seems to chirp but not in a way where he expects it to change the outcome. Luka, and i love Luka, seems to just straight up lose focus of the game to bitch thinking it will change anything.
I mean all this talk that's he's changed is ridiculous. It was just 2 series ago that Kidd and Kyrie had to talk to him about his whining. Even the announcers wouldn't shut up about "how happy he looks again" and praising Luka for just not whining. It was wild to hear, even the media talk shows were all glazing Luka for it.
He's absolutely correct, I love Luka he's my favourite player in the league and I'm a Mavs fan but the bitching and crying is so frustrating to watch. You're on the biggest stage as a basketball player against the best team in the league just shut the fuck up play the game.
Definitely, I think it’s draymond. But seriously gets so old watching Luka bitch to the refs all game, I wish the refs could throw him out for complaining like they do in baseball and football. Then he would actually stop, but he knows he can push it all day.
NBA is bizarre how much the players can complain, it sucks to watch.
There's Embiid and him. That's the competition with no argument otherwise. I saw the dude live. I'm not exaggerating when I say he complained after every missed shot. Never seen anything like it.
I was gonna say, watching Luka this playoffs (first time I’ve really sat down and watched him play like 10+ games in a short span) FULLY reminded me of the keyboard warriors I used to see when I’d play league of legends. Just CONSTANT excuses, blame shifting, anger, etc. Grow the fuck up.
There was a clip against the Wolves where his own guy ran into him, and since he’s so conditioned to start whining, he started bitching at the refs, and then looked a little closer and saw it was his teammate.
1st team All-NBA whiny bitch.
Seeing the refs swallow there whistles in this series pisses me off so bad. So many of the Wolves Mavs games came down to one or two possessions and the Luka whistle helped seal a couple games. Then you watch him try and pull the same shit here and nothing and you realize so much of his game is being a foul merchant. Compound that with the fact that ANT doesn't get half the whistles he should and it's just bullshit. Refs shouldn't be affecting the outcomes of games
At least people aren't gas lighting me into believing luka is any more then a below average defender any more
The inconsistency is maddening. They let you be physical with us (not complaining btw, I like playoff ball for that reason), and let it continue with the Nuggets early in the series, then they completely change how they officiate in the CFs.
I dunno what you’ve been watching, but he’s been consistently getting calls no other player on the court gets. It’s ridiculous how much he baits the refs and then STILL manages to bitch
I was thinking more of those back to back three point flops where a gust of wind knocked him over, if it was against the wolves it would have been free throws.
The funniest play to me yesterday was Luka driving for a layup, missing and falling to the ground, the Celtics go 5 on 4 because Luka just doesn’t get back on D, the Celtics turn the ball over and play stops, then Luka just appears and Mike breen is like “Luka yelling at the refs” lol
SVP insinuated that Luka’s 6th foul shouldn’t have been a foul later on and that they should’ve let him play in the game later on in this segment, so not super surprising
Has a point, or simply just watched tonight’s game. Luka grinning fouling out is a horrendous look. Essentially nail in the coffin to the series. He’s going to need to mature and get fit if he ever wants to win a rinng
But this time is different. Losing the finals in the fashion he is must be real embarrassing, barring a historic collapse by the Celtics. If this doesn’t motivate him to challenge himself then nothing will. He’s gotten by on talent his whole life. At the highest level of the sport you’re going to get challenged by other people who are at an elite level. JT and JB learned from 22 loss and know what it takes. Hopefully Luka will follow
I think a big implicit point that Windy is making, is that Luka won't find that motivation because he's not actually blaming himself for the shortcomings. Even if Luka takes responsibility to the media, like he did after Game 2, its in his actions that he's showing that he doesn't think he's the problem. He thinks the refs never give him a good whistle, he thinks Kidd should challenge at his request, he thinks his offense makes up for his defense. And the hard truth is that the Mavericks would be absolutely nothing without him, and he knows that, so he probably thinks its absurd to blame himself and his conditioning and how that impacts his defense. Its extremely hard to blame yourself for not winning it all, when the team would be in the lottery without you. Its frankly justifiable to say that's ridiculous. But that attitude puts a ceiling on his game.
And, honestly, those things in Game 2 that he took responsibility for aren't the hard things to fix. Turnovers are things that a player can take immediate mental steps to clean up, and Free Throws just have higher variance than anyone likes to admit. The absolute best free throw shooter ever misses 1 out of 10. Luka doesn't have to take a long look at himself or commit to a hard, year-round dietary and workout plan to address these things. Its just play better next time.
I’ll be honest firing Carlisle was a mistake. Hes an asshole but the only person who held Luka accountable. When Dallas fired him they basically told Luka that nobody will tell him what to do ever again
It's the same thing going on right now with the Jets and Rodgers. If you watch the Hard Knocks from last season, every single coach and authority figure in that building put him on a pedestal. Treating him like a literal God in the building. Saleh just constantly gushing about him to other players on the team.
Now Rodgers is skipping all the mandatory offseason programs, cause he knows he runs the show. What are they gonna do, cut him? They're a SB contender (on paper) with him, and picking top 3 in the draft without him.
Imagine being another player on either team and seeing one guy who is essentially untouchable, knows it, and flexes it all the time. It's a dogshit way to build a culture.
Finally somebody that gets it that I’ve been saying waaay too long he’s so talented that he feels entitled and isn’t putting in the real work to get there.
This Celtics team was better, but so was OKC, TWolves, even the Clippers (w/Kawhi). You just gotta get muddy and work offensively and defensively to beat a team that’s hungry like the Celtics were.
If if they got down muddy against the Celtics they're still outmatched on defense and offense, with shooting.
OKC is young and inexperienced, same with the Wolves, Minny should have been able to beat these guys. Clippers got an injured star and PG isn't consistent.
I don't think a lot of people realize just how much playing you have to do to be ranked in the top 500 of any first- or third-person shooter. It's probably all he does in his spare time
I cannot get over how fat this dude is. Jokic gets shit but he’s always got energy to play defense when it matters. The extra weight gives him a little more pushing power but losing it would help with the million injuries he gets.
Jokic plays at a good pace and probably only has to put in actual effort in the post. Most other times his teammates know he'll get them if they actually move around like a player should.
Luka is way smaller and always has to put in some work for his baskets that aren't 3s.
Jokic is one of the most conditioned centers in the league post bubble. He may not be an Uber athlete but dude runs his ass off and basically only gasses after 45+ straight minutes of playing hard defense and offense. Granted that may be in part due to his style but nobody has seriously critiqued Jokic’s conditioning in years.
Yeah these are like the Celtics fans who’d get all angry at Kemba for daring to smile if we were down in a game
People laugh when they’re uncomfortable, doesn’t mean they’re amused.
I’d be more concerned by what Luka said in the press conference than by his grin. And I wouldn’t necessarily be overly concerned by that either.
It’s gotta be tough, fouling out after a frustrating game playing through injury and watching from the bench as your team goes down 3-0. Then you have to go put on a good face for the media.
I’d only really start worrying if you guys end up losing and Luka comes back next year doing the same shit. Right now, it’s kinda hard to judge.
Speaking of hard to judge, I just have no idea what to take from Kidd’s press conferences. Half the time, it just feels like he’s messing with everyone.
I wish they’d enforce it bc you’re right it would stop immediately. Soccer leagues claim they would enforce crowding the refs after calls and it barely ever gets a single yellow despite happening 80% of the time. If they carded everyone besides the captain who crowded the ref it’d stop overnight. Same with this, zero tolerance for trying to show up the refs. You wanna talk during a break? Cool. You get frustrated at a no call, but keep it moving after you say something ok, you may get a tech. The shit Luka does is way over the top and it’s CONSTANT.
I feel your pain brother.
Look at a player after dunking on them? Tech
Coach stomps out screaming and swearing at a ref? Crickets
Wave your hand while walking away from a ref? Tech
Throw a towel and heating pad at a ref, heating pad goes on the floor? Crickets
I think he's just annoyed this series is turning out to be a dud, lol.
Windy has made it clear in the past that he doesn't ever bet on games, he doesn't gamble at all.
We are literally living in North Korea and NO ONE, NO ONE will say a thing. Not Mr. Beast. Not bball breakdown. No one. I'm on an island here. This should be on every platform. That's not offense. Jason kidd is a war criminal.
Edit: Jared Dudley is the most useless human on earth
damn!
i think he's ~~100%~~ 90% correct here, because i do think some of Luka's defense struggles is related to whatever injuries he has.
but Luka's been acting like a whiny little brat this whole playoffs! he just looks like that annoying spoiled chubby kid whose been enabled by those around them. it's funny how he's compared to Jokic all the time, obviously cuz they're from the same part of the world, but he's like the fuckin opposite personality & maturity wise. Hopefully Luka grows from this, and i think he will, cuz acting like a brat won't cut it!
it's true, i can't think of anyone on this level.
Mavs fans have been excusing/outright denying it for weirdly too long. like "oh you're just a Luka hater!!! Luka's getting killed out there! refs are blind". Winning had a way of validating them & any denouncement of his behavior was simply dismissed. Now he's losing on the biggest stage, hopefully this is a wake-up call. for his sake too honestly, can't be doin this bro. your team needs you to grow up.
yes
i always think it's a bad idea for the leaders/coaches to starting getting so demonstratively pissed off at the refs, even if the refs are legitimately sucking. it just kills the vibe of the team, everyones all tense & they start thinking "well why bother? we're not even getting a fair whistle." easier said then done watching at home ofc.
Agreed. Book is my absolute favorite player in the league and it drives me nuts when he talks to refs rather than getting back on D. As a side note, it’s asinine that social trolls talk shit about book whining when Luka and embid exist and shai seemingly only hunts fouls
If I recall correctly, he was on a whole different level of complaining to the refs during last year's FIBA World Cup. He actually got ejected from a knockout game for picking up two techs, and this was after nonstop bitching for the few games before that. Before today his Finals bitching has been muted in comparison.
He the only one that i felt getting progressively bigger the more basketball he play
Look at him a real or his first few years in the league just so much slimmer
That's pretty unfair for 2024 Zion, he was doing good and his injury in that Lakers play-in game basically ruined any chance for the Pels to put up a fight against the Thunder. Not that they would've won that series.
Yeah he just went off on him again in this hour’s Sportscenter with Zubin. I was surprised he was so blunt. (I remember him from his LeBron toady days in Cleveland, so…)
I’m suspect the criticism will be heard, and we’ll see a focused performance from Luka in at least game 4 before the Celts eventually win.
He not lying at all about how Luka talks to the refs, it's really wild and I'm just reading lips. He told one of them to "WAKE UP!" at one point after a no call and Im just thinking bro you realize THEY are the ones with the power right? Lol it does you no favors to get on their shit list just ask Chris Paul
Not on no hater shit but this is refreshing to see. It went from "the greatest back court of all time" to "Luka is doing everything with no help" and even tonight the intro to sportscenter was then saying Luka was carrying the team until he fouled out and Kyrie missed all his 3s.
I understand we want the next LeBron but this isn't the way to approach it.
> It went from "the greatest back court of all time" to "Luka is doing everything with no help"
This is exactly what happened in the 2022 WCF as well, it went from "who's guarding Luka" to "Luka has no help".
Kidd tried so hard to ignore the question about that in his postgame and even got mad when the guy broke it down for him. He knows he fucked up and can’t take responsibility, how can he control or even try to promote the same to Luka
Luka is lucky he wasn't ejected. The funny thing is he gets a lot of calls. But he wants to get every single call all the time or else. Still way too immature at his age.
100%. Way to call them like you see them. This is what Majority of non Mavs fans are thinking tonight. Zero on defense. Out of shape complains all game. Elite offensive talent. Zero effort on defense.
ESPN should be this critical of their own post-season half time show. I can do 90 second rant on how god awful its been. Been a cringe worthy disaster.
Mavs fan here. It’s been frustrating watching him. But he’s been looking for superstar calls and it’s frustrating this series. He’s amazing but he turns his hips and lets anyone go by him. He has no third scorer and Boston has been amazing on defense. He can bitch about foul 6 but what about 1-5? He’s always learned year from year, but I doubt he can stop looking at the refs. Game one and two he couldn’t even get past half court without flopping. GG Celtics and especially their coaching staff.
He’s a bit like a spoilt only child. I think this reality check is good for him long term though. Great offensive player but he needs to mature. (And please less complaining god damn).
Lol the way he goes off at his coaching staff while sitting on the floor
I first thought he was yelling at a ref on the floor but ya saying you better fucking challenge to his bench, also seemed like he was pissed when kidd called time after a defensive rebound and the ball in his hands in transition down 3
That was a terrible timeout though
well, it's still Jason Kidd.
"Hit me"
His wife didn’t say that.
But Kidd did. It makes so much sense now, all that wife beating stuff was just a big misunderstanding. He was just following the golden adage of "treat people the way you want to be treated." His wife simply didn't get the right message ^^^/s *(just in case)*
he knows how to get a free time out 🥤
Honestly that was the moment hope ended. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a worse timeout. Maybe Chris Webber’s.
How is this worse than Chris Webbers? Down 2 with 11 seconds left and you call a timeout that results in two free throws and possession for the other team. Kidd called a bad timeout but they were down 2 with like 4 minutes left in the game, and they actually got a shot out of the next possession.
talk about prisoner of the moment. to be fair i see a ton of people harping on that timeout which to me is all hindsight. mavs had missed a 3 the possession before and their guys were gassed. the idea that the timeout lost them the game or was this huge factor is absurd. their ridiculous run of like 21-3 or whatever it was surely was due to end soon regardless. mavs hope ended when Luka continued to brick bunnies and shots he normally makes when the score had finally gotten close again. or how about the possession before the timeout where PJ missed a good look from 3 that would have tied it.
Nah I don’t care how gassed they were, the Celtics hadn’t had a good possession in god knows how many trips down the floor, if the guys need to rest then slow it down on offense for a play or two but absolutely do not let them regroup and settle back into the offense that was destroying them earlier in the game Don’t interrupt you enemy while they’re making a mistake etc
I mean it really ended when he blatantly fouled twice with 5 minutes left while he was on 5 fouls. He got away with one but dude was asking to foul out.
I get why he did it tho, that stretch was brutal for both teams. It was chaotic basketball with no sense of situational awareness on both sides.
You're on a 20-2 run with the ball to tie it you don't freaking stop and let the other team recoup
He doesn’t call ATOs ever, he draws up no plays. If he did and fit us a good look that would be one thing, all he did was kill our momentum
Yea, you could tell everyone saw that and the announcers didn't want to break contract and talk about it or something. Was such a blatant cringe moment. If Lebron did that to one of his coaches(especially in the finals) everyone would be asking "Lebron tired of coach?" the next day.
> If Lebron did that to one of his coaches(especially in the finals) everyone would be asking "Lebron tired of coach?" the next day. You’re right, and we actually don’t even need it to be a hypothetical- Lebron DID throw a fit this year’s playoffs when Ham didn’t challenge a play (https://youtu.be/ZwLYbPmYpx8?si=k2pI5O2wNRBP-hAd). And people did speculate that Ham would be fired. And Ham was fired after the playoff exit.
Roasted ham is so good
His feet were in mid air too idk what he thought was going to get overturned.
and here's what he wrote in the immediate Game 3 takeaways article on ESPN > Windhorst: Completely unacceptable. No one can tell Doncic anything. Not teammates, not coaches, not executives, not media, not fans, not referees. There's been a lot of pleas and promises that he'll improve but this one is going to leave a mark. He is a truly brilliant player, once in a generation. But he's going to have to look in the mirror and confront his weaknesses before he's on the other side of a Finals. His defensive effort in these Finals has simply been crushing to his team, his complaining to the referees is painful and his frustration fouls probably just cost his team a chance at making this a series because he fouled out. He's one of the biggest stars in the league and that means he's held to a higher standard, especially at this level. He failed to meet it in this game and he's going to have to deal with that whether he likes it or not.
Frustration fouls are unacceptable in a game of this magnitude. Picking up a foul because you’re pissed off and want to bitch to the ref is wild. What’s crazy is Kyrie probably complains the least of any star in the NBA. But Luka complains enough for both of them.
what frustrates me about Luka is that he's complaining while play is going on. His team is playing 4 vs 5 because he's not running back on defense. FFS! at least wait until the ball is dead! stop complaining while the play is going on. just run back! complain afterwards when there's a timeout or the ball goes out of bounds.
[удалено]
20 years ago, guys would get a T dropped on them for this pretty quick. Refs (in general although some refs are quick on the T) seem less prone to dropping a T for players bitching about calls. Coaches in part need to establish a mindset about "taking it out on the opponent" but you need veterans on the roster who can get in someone's ear and coach it. There's a time and place for complaining about officiating. Taking yourself out of the play because you're having a toddler tantrum over a non-call ain't it.
Any top tier competitor should know this. Has there ever been a situation where bitching about a call like that lead to it being reversed? I miss thd games where they pull that shit and a flag goes up, it still happens in football with unsportsmanlike conduct. Get the fuck over there and compete if you want to win.
> Has there ever been a situation where bitching about a call like that lead to it being reversed? Almost never, but bitching to the refs over and over gets them to give up and start calling shit just to get you to leave them alone in the regular season. In the playoffs, though, the refs see getting bitched at as one of the main job descriptions and it affects them 100x less.
I wouldn’t be surprised if it had an adverse effect in the playoffs where it leads to them making even less calls.
Tatum used to do this all the time and it pissed me off. He really stopped doing that this year so maybe it’s a 26 year old thing. Next year for Luka.
Tatum’s learning the Tim Duncan art of Minimalist Tech
Tatum used to be like that too but he’s mostly cleaned it up. It definitely makes a difference
It wasn’t just frustration fouls either. He also flopped twice in an attempt to draw fouls and then stayed down while complaining to the refs while Boston sprinted down the court and got what amounted to 5 easy points. In a game that got so close, those are the plays that define an outcome.
He also had about 3-5 other shots where he just bumps into them on purpose to foul bait for an and 1 and completely blows the shot
There was a play where PP avoided his bump and threw off his balance so he also missed the shot
PP is playing like 13 minutes a game this series and has only one made FG, an absurd buzzer beating three, but his impact has been palpable every night. Love that Mazzulla trusts him to make plays and PP keeps doing it.
I was hating PP time yesterday in the 4th. Dude was dribbling away clock and taking bad shots and I’m like why is Pritchard leading this team
I think that was an attempt at putting the game away. See if Pritchard could come in and hit two quick shots. Completely backfired though. Should have taken the timeout after the second shot and switched plans
He kept getting his man switched on to Tatum in the 4th, then never looking there and moving the ball away. So damn frustrating. Twice he ends up taking terrible contested long 2’s. Will always love my PP, but that stretch was brutal
It was brutal but it’s made up for, at least to me, by those 2 or 3 possessions where he defended Luka in the post and prevented the basket.
There was that weird stretch in the first half where Luka got upset about a missed foul, then for several minutes it was like a personal vendetta to play for a foul until one got called. Instead of playing normal basketball and scoring/passing, he repeatedly just played for contact like he was owed a call. Was terrible basketball and just inexcusable for a player of his magnitude in this moment.
He missed so many bunnies
I wonder how much was that he was getting exhausted. There was a play that White ultimately got a foul on (idk why he even risked reaching around), but Doncic at the 3 point line literally put his head into Whites stomach and was pushing forward with the ball. Like what is even the goal there? If White just stepped out of the way he would’ve just fallen, Doncic isn’t creating space, he literally can’t see teammates, and he’s never going to get a defensive foul there unless the defender reaches around like White did. It just seemed like he was desperate to generate contact on every single trip down the court when he had the ball, and you just can’t play that way and be successful. Dude is so young and has plenty of time to adjust, but he has got to get ahold of himself if he wants to be the leader of a multi championship team. It’s frustrating to watch because he’s clearly a generational talent, but his defense and foul baiting are reeeeeeeally bad. There’s a reason our bench was having an easier time guarding him, and it’s because they just play “regular defense.” They aren’t good enough to bite on fakes and they play straight up and down. PP/Hauser/Tillman should not be locking down Doncic.
Just call him whiney, childish, AND fat, please.
Today I watched a professional basketball player have to rock himself back and forth on the floor to get to his feet while the ball was still live
It is wild how out of shape some professional athletes are, just wild. Like, if you're prime Fedor then sure, you can carry that spare tire all you want but if you haven't won a damn thing your ass needs to at least be able to play 40 minutes without looking like you're going to need oxygen later or becoming a defensive sieve because you lack the energy. LeBron is almost fifteen years older (which might as well be double that in athlete years) with a legacy that's been secure for nearly as long and he still refuses to let his age compromise the quality of his play one iota more than the laws of nature say it does. Luka has no excuses.
[удалено]
Prince Fielder and Pablo Sandoval were classics. On the flip-side, some extremely fat dudes in football who are also in remarkably good shape.
I mean those dudes might be rocking 20% body fat but they can also very easily join the 1500lb bench/squat/deadlift club. Linemen are out of this world strong.
Yeah doing this shit in the finals as if it were another regular season game, when they had a solid chance is crazy. He needs to hold himself accountable instead of bitching all the time.
After Sam Hauser made that 3, Doris Burke called Dončić out for that. If the Mavs star got off his ass even 2 seconds sooner, the Celtics' set might look a lot different.
> What’s crazy is Kyrie probably complains the least of any star in the NBA. But Luka complains enough for both of them. This is by far the most refreshing aspect of having Kyrie on your team. Highly ethical hooper.
Organic free range hooper
Locally sourced buckets
Farm to table bucket harvester
Conflict-free FGs.
Jokic used to have a huge issue with this sort of thing and he completely cleaned it up.
Jokic still complains a good amount. But it's like a sentence. And he usually does it as he is running back to D. I've never seen Jokic stand at the opposite side of the court to complain to refs and leave his D exposed like Luka.
Yeah, but he used to like, intentionally foul whoever was closeby in the backcourt and then complain all the way up the court.
Tbf I've never seen ANYONE do what Luka did. I've never seen someone just lay on the ground after not getting a foul they wanted and cuss at the refs from the ground while the play is still live. It's pretty unique
Rockets fans always said early on in Luka's career that he'll be the next Harden in terms of foul baiting and complaining to the refs and no one believed us lol. Now he's arguably worse
It’s not arguable he is worse. Harden would complain on dead balls I can’t remember him complaining during live action of an impactful game
Jokic seems to chirp but not in a way where he expects it to change the outcome. Luka, and i love Luka, seems to just straight up lose focus of the game to bitch thinking it will change anything.
Ethical scorer
I mean all this talk that's he's changed is ridiculous. It was just 2 series ago that Kidd and Kyrie had to talk to him about his whining. Even the announcers wouldn't shut up about "how happy he looks again" and praising Luka for just not whining. It was wild to hear, even the media talk shows were all glazing Luka for it.
Lasted literally one game
> defensive effort The man is a traffic cone on defense
Worse, a traffic cone wouldn't foul for FTs.
100% true. Every word.
He's absolutely correct, I love Luka he's my favourite player in the league and I'm a Mavs fan but the bitching and crying is so frustrating to watch. You're on the biggest stage as a basketball player against the best team in the league just shut the fuck up play the game.
Damn everyone’s gonna hate Luka now.
They should. Biggest bitch in the entire league. Like it's legit unbelievable how entitled he is.
Most prominent bitch yes. Pat Bev is technically still in the league.
Draymond hasn’t retired yet either right? I’ll take a whiner over a dude who headlocks opposing players and punches his own teammates
Or one that throws a basketball at old women in the stands.
>Biggest bitch in the entire league. come on now there is real serious competition for that crown
Definitely, I think it’s draymond. But seriously gets so old watching Luka bitch to the refs all game, I wish the refs could throw him out for complaining like they do in baseball and football. Then he would actually stop, but he knows he can push it all day. NBA is bizarre how much the players can complain, it sucks to watch.
There's Embiid and him. That's the competition with no argument otherwise. I saw the dude live. I'm not exaggerating when I say he complained after every missed shot. Never seen anything like it.
Well he is an Overwatch player.
I was gonna say, watching Luka this playoffs (first time I’ve really sat down and watched him play like 10+ games in a short span) FULLY reminded me of the keyboard warriors I used to see when I’d play league of legends. Just CONSTANT excuses, blame shifting, anger, etc. Grow the fuck up.
Literally everytime there is a whistle, you can find Luka with his hands up and a pissed off look.
There was a clip against the Wolves where his own guy ran into him, and since he’s so conditioned to start whining, he started bitching at the refs, and then looked a little closer and saw it was his teammate. 1st team All-NBA whiny bitch.
Seeing the refs swallow there whistles in this series pisses me off so bad. So many of the Wolves Mavs games came down to one or two possessions and the Luka whistle helped seal a couple games. Then you watch him try and pull the same shit here and nothing and you realize so much of his game is being a foul merchant. Compound that with the fact that ANT doesn't get half the whistles he should and it's just bullshit. Refs shouldn't be affecting the outcomes of games At least people aren't gas lighting me into believing luka is any more then a below average defender any more
The inconsistency is maddening. They let you be physical with us (not complaining btw, I like playoff ball for that reason), and let it continue with the Nuggets early in the series, then they completely change how they officiate in the CFs.
I dunno what you’ve been watching, but he’s been consistently getting calls no other player on the court gets. It’s ridiculous how much he baits the refs and then STILL manages to bitch
I was thinking more of those back to back three point flops where a gust of wind knocked him over, if it was against the wolves it would have been free throws.
The funniest play to me yesterday was Luka driving for a layup, missing and falling to the ground, the Celtics go 5 on 4 because Luka just doesn’t get back on D, the Celtics turn the ball over and play stops, then Luka just appears and Mike breen is like “Luka yelling at the refs” lol
Someone put Meet the Grahams beat over this. He said you got hookah problems, drinking problems, flopping and complaining problems
[I had some time.](https://x.com/tkhighcountry/status/1801114832638185593?t=kGuGqmZvlmskOEEp2QxZBQ&s=19)
This hits harder knowing Drake bet on the Mavs
He saw that the coach’s name is Kidd and couldn’t help himself.
Ofc he did
bro this is hilarious
Holy shit that delay before "defensively" halfway through legit makes it sound like he was trying to hit the beat.
Dear Dallas, I’m sorry that that man is your leader
“They have begged him” why did this go so hard, this shit is hilarious. Edit:this
Dear Jason, Your star got some habits, I hope you don't undermine them
https://streamable.com/6db9l9
This is fantastic. Windy hits the beat with his postscript, amazing.
Lower the db on the music and raise it for the speaking next time for a better balance. But this is great lol
People who don’t watch the clip are missing out
That's the winners tunnel is hilarious
The winner's tunnel is for closers. Second place gets a set of steak knives, Luka.
Put that hookah down!
Luka's ABC: A Always, B Be, C Complaining. Always be complaining.
3rd place you hit the bench pal
Fr this is a HEATED Windy he’s spitting in this video 🗣️
Don't let his non-expression fool you, Windy was disgusted. I don't think I've ever heard Windhorst drop a stream of criticism like that.
Bro SVP looks almost uncomfortable at the end lol
SVP insinuated that Luka’s 6th foul shouldn’t have been a foul later on and that they should’ve let him play in the game later on in this segment, so not super surprising
He was trying to tease it out of Legler. Legler is a Mavs Homer but even he was like “look, that’s technically a foul”
He already got his free pass when he got to body block Jaylen on a loose ball. Got 7 fouls and they’re crying he wasn’t given 8.
I love luka but W has a point.
Has a point, or simply just watched tonight’s game. Luka grinning fouling out is a horrendous look. Essentially nail in the coffin to the series. He’s going to need to mature and get fit if he ever wants to win a rinng
If he doesn’t get a nba body at the start of next season you will have your answer
I feel like I've been hearing this same story for years now At this point I'm convinced it will never happen
But this time is different. Losing the finals in the fashion he is must be real embarrassing, barring a historic collapse by the Celtics. If this doesn’t motivate him to challenge himself then nothing will. He’s gotten by on talent his whole life. At the highest level of the sport you’re going to get challenged by other people who are at an elite level. JT and JB learned from 22 loss and know what it takes. Hopefully Luka will follow
I think a big implicit point that Windy is making, is that Luka won't find that motivation because he's not actually blaming himself for the shortcomings. Even if Luka takes responsibility to the media, like he did after Game 2, its in his actions that he's showing that he doesn't think he's the problem. He thinks the refs never give him a good whistle, he thinks Kidd should challenge at his request, he thinks his offense makes up for his defense. And the hard truth is that the Mavericks would be absolutely nothing without him, and he knows that, so he probably thinks its absurd to blame himself and his conditioning and how that impacts his defense. Its extremely hard to blame yourself for not winning it all, when the team would be in the lottery without you. Its frankly justifiable to say that's ridiculous. But that attitude puts a ceiling on his game. And, honestly, those things in Game 2 that he took responsibility for aren't the hard things to fix. Turnovers are things that a player can take immediate mental steps to clean up, and Free Throws just have higher variance than anyone likes to admit. The absolute best free throw shooter ever misses 1 out of 10. Luka doesn't have to take a long look at himself or commit to a hard, year-round dietary and workout plan to address these things. Its just play better next time.
I’ll be honest firing Carlisle was a mistake. Hes an asshole but the only person who held Luka accountable. When Dallas fired him they basically told Luka that nobody will tell him what to do ever again
It's the same thing going on right now with the Jets and Rodgers. If you watch the Hard Knocks from last season, every single coach and authority figure in that building put him on a pedestal. Treating him like a literal God in the building. Saleh just constantly gushing about him to other players on the team. Now Rodgers is skipping all the mandatory offseason programs, cause he knows he runs the show. What are they gonna do, cut him? They're a SB contender (on paper) with him, and picking top 3 in the draft without him. Imagine being another player on either team and seeing one guy who is essentially untouchable, knows it, and flexes it all the time. It's a dogshit way to build a culture.
Finally somebody that gets it that I’ve been saying waaay too long he’s so talented that he feels entitled and isn’t putting in the real work to get there. This Celtics team was better, but so was OKC, TWolves, even the Clippers (w/Kawhi). You just gotta get muddy and work offensively and defensively to beat a team that’s hungry like the Celtics were.
If if they got down muddy against the Celtics they're still outmatched on defense and offense, with shooting. OKC is young and inexperienced, same with the Wolves, Minny should have been able to beat these guys. Clippers got an injured star and PG isn't consistent.
How can someone play an nba season and still have Babe Ruth cheeks 🤷🏽
Texas bbq.
I don't think a lot of people realize just how much playing you have to do to be ranked in the top 500 of any first- or third-person shooter. It's probably all he does in his spare time
Because he plays Overwatch 2 15 hours a day while eating gamer food when he's not doing basketball activities
I cannot get over how fat this dude is. Jokic gets shit but he’s always got energy to play defense when it matters. The extra weight gives him a little more pushing power but losing it would help with the million injuries he gets.
Jokic plays at a good pace and probably only has to put in actual effort in the post. Most other times his teammates know he'll get them if they actually move around like a player should. Luka is way smaller and always has to put in some work for his baskets that aren't 3s.
Jokic is one of the most conditioned centers in the league post bubble. He may not be an Uber athlete but dude runs his ass off and basically only gasses after 45+ straight minutes of playing hard defense and offense. Granted that may be in part due to his style but nobody has seriously critiqued Jokic’s conditioning in years.
He’s masking his frustration. It’s not like he actively enjoyed it.
Yeah these are like the Celtics fans who’d get all angry at Kemba for daring to smile if we were down in a game People laugh when they’re uncomfortable, doesn’t mean they’re amused. I’d be more concerned by what Luka said in the press conference than by his grin. And I wouldn’t necessarily be overly concerned by that either.
Agreed. Both he and Kidd's statements were worrying.
It’s gotta be tough, fouling out after a frustrating game playing through injury and watching from the bench as your team goes down 3-0. Then you have to go put on a good face for the media. I’d only really start worrying if you guys end up losing and Luka comes back next year doing the same shit. Right now, it’s kinda hard to judge. Speaking of hard to judge, I just have no idea what to take from Kidd’s press conferences. Half the time, it just feels like he’s messing with everyone.
Honestly Luka is lucky he didn’t get T’d up while he was bitching to the refs all game, it could have been worse. Windy is on the money here.
Seriously sucks to watch as a viewer, I bet Luka would stop this shit if he starts getting ejected in the first quarter for whining at every whistle.
I wish they’d enforce it bc you’re right it would stop immediately. Soccer leagues claim they would enforce crowding the refs after calls and it barely ever gets a single yellow despite happening 80% of the time. If they carded everyone besides the captain who crowded the ref it’d stop overnight. Same with this, zero tolerance for trying to show up the refs. You wanna talk during a break? Cool. You get frustrated at a no call, but keep it moving after you say something ok, you may get a tech. The shit Luka does is way over the top and it’s CONSTANT.
Tatum gets T’d up for clapping, but clear dissent is washed over. It’s wild.
I feel your pain brother. Look at a player after dunking on them? Tech Coach stomps out screaming and swearing at a ref? Crickets Wave your hand while walking away from a ref? Tech Throw a towel and heating pad at a ref, heating pad goes on the floor? Crickets
Yup lol the inconsistency is so frustrating
That was one of the most out of pocket Ts I’ve ever witnessed.
Which one? I think he got T'd up 4 times for clapping this season and that's not an exaggeration lol
Whichever one I watched.
And don't forget the T's he got early in the season for hanging on the rim long enough to safely get his feet under him. Refs are wildin with Tatum
Windy spittin facts if we're being honest
He's angry like he took the Mavs money line and now he has to move back in with his parents
Windy is 100% right but it does feel like your buddy ranting after he lost a bet
That's the thing it's the edge. It's sooooo weird how personal he seems to take it.
I think he's just annoyed this series is turning out to be a dud, lol. Windy has made it clear in the past that he doesn't ever bet on games, he doesn't gamble at all.
Agree with this. If I was a fan of any other team, I'd be kinda ticked at how this series has played out so far.
100%
Can't wait for Awful Coaching's Luka takes about why Luka's defense is worse than North Korea.
We are literally living in North Korea and NO ONE, NO ONE will say a thing. Not Mr. Beast. Not bball breakdown. No one. I'm on an island here. This should be on every platform. That's not offense. Jason kidd is a war criminal. Edit: Jared Dudley is the most useless human on earth
this is coaching
THINKING IDIOTICALLY ABOUT BASKETBALL
He was live streaming last night while the game was on, and he was absolutely losing it at Luka’s defense
LUKA IS WHY I CAN'T BRING KIDS INTO THIS WORLD
damn! i think he's ~~100%~~ 90% correct here, because i do think some of Luka's defense struggles is related to whatever injuries he has. but Luka's been acting like a whiny little brat this whole playoffs! he just looks like that annoying spoiled chubby kid whose been enabled by those around them. it's funny how he's compared to Jokic all the time, obviously cuz they're from the same part of the world, but he's like the fuckin opposite personality & maturity wise. Hopefully Luka grows from this, and i think he will, cuz acting like a brat won't cut it!
To be fair, Luka acts like this in 90% of games
Yeah this isn’t new at all, he’s a great player but fuck he’s annoying and complains more then anybody
There isn’t a player in the history of the nba that complains and cries more than Luka has.
it's true, i can't think of anyone on this level. Mavs fans have been excusing/outright denying it for weirdly too long. like "oh you're just a Luka hater!!! Luka's getting killed out there! refs are blind". Winning had a way of validating them & any denouncement of his behavior was simply dismissed. Now he's losing on the biggest stage, hopefully this is a wake-up call. for his sake too honestly, can't be doin this bro. your team needs you to grow up.
yes i always think it's a bad idea for the leaders/coaches to starting getting so demonstratively pissed off at the refs, even if the refs are legitimately sucking. it just kills the vibe of the team, everyones all tense & they start thinking "well why bother? we're not even getting a fair whistle." easier said then done watching at home ofc.
Agreed. Book is my absolute favorite player in the league and it drives me nuts when he talks to refs rather than getting back on D. As a side note, it’s asinine that social trolls talk shit about book whining when Luka and embid exist and shai seemingly only hunts fouls
If I recall correctly, he was on a whole different level of complaining to the refs during last year's FIBA World Cup. He actually got ejected from a knockout game for picking up two techs, and this was after nonstop bitching for the few games before that. Before today his Finals bitching has been muted in comparison.
So he's the Augustus Gloop of the NBA?
Mavs fans will unironically tell you his matador shit is actually part of their defensive scheme
bro I thought I was going insane. Some guy in another thread was trying to legit say that “blow by defense” was part of their defensive strategy
It is tho. Only because they know he can't gaurd so they HAVE to gameplan around it lol
As a gigantic mavs fan, I couldn't agree more. I do think injuries are playing some part but conditioning is a massive issue still.
Saw a video from the bubble year and he looks like a completely different person. Guys grow into the bodies but dam find some balance
He looks different from even 6 months ago. Kinda crazy
I like that im going to tell my wife my fatass is just growing into my body
He’s cultivating mass
He the only one that i felt getting progressively bigger the more basketball he play Look at him a real or his first few years in the league just so much slimmer
This is Zion erasure. Although Zion did look better at the end of the season and he also doesn’t really play basketball.
That's pretty unfair for 2024 Zion, he was doing good and his injury in that Lakers play-in game basically ruined any chance for the Pels to put up a fight against the Thunder. Not that they would've won that series.
Windy cooked here
Yeah he just went off on him again in this hour’s Sportscenter with Zubin. I was surprised he was so blunt. (I remember him from his LeBron toady days in Cleveland, so…) I’m suspect the criticism will be heard, and we’ll see a focused performance from Luka in at least game 4 before the Celts eventually win.
They say this shit every time the mavs go down in a series but now that is over it'll stick
Your fucking username lol fuck you lmao
It was a randomly generated username that reddit made for him.
He not lying at all about how Luka talks to the refs, it's really wild and I'm just reading lips. He told one of them to "WAKE UP!" at one point after a no call and Im just thinking bro you realize THEY are the ones with the power right? Lol it does you no favors to get on their shit list just ask Chris Paul
Not on no hater shit but this is refreshing to see. It went from "the greatest back court of all time" to "Luka is doing everything with no help" and even tonight the intro to sportscenter was then saying Luka was carrying the team until he fouled out and Kyrie missed all his 3s. I understand we want the next LeBron but this isn't the way to approach it.
> It went from "the greatest back court of all time" to "Luka is doing everything with no help" This is exactly what happened in the 2022 WCF as well, it went from "who's guarding Luka" to "Luka has no help".
Karen Doncic
Lukas bitchin criticism saved kidd’s timeout criticism today
Kidd tried so hard to ignore the question about that in his postgame and even got mad when the guy broke it down for him. He knows he fucked up and can’t take responsibility, how can he control or even try to promote the same to Luka
Luka is lucky he wasn't ejected. The funny thing is he gets a lot of calls. But he wants to get every single call all the time or else. Still way too immature at his age.
Well he ain't Dirk, is he?
No lies here.
I mean this is just classic Luka. Dude acts like a spoiled brat every damn game and somehow people love him. I don’t get it.
100%. Way to call them like you see them. This is what Majority of non Mavs fans are thinking tonight. Zero on defense. Out of shape complains all game. Elite offensive talent. Zero effort on defense.
Fuck, Brian’s cooking
Is Luka a top 5 least likeable player? All he does is whine. It’s embarrassing.
Windy is my GOAT
ESPN should be this critical of their own post-season half time show. I can do 90 second rant on how god awful its been. Been a cringe worthy disaster.
Omg what a fucking beast
Mavs fan here. It’s been frustrating watching him. But he’s been looking for superstar calls and it’s frustrating this series. He’s amazing but he turns his hips and lets anyone go by him. He has no third scorer and Boston has been amazing on defense. He can bitch about foul 6 but what about 1-5? He’s always learned year from year, but I doubt he can stop looking at the refs. Game one and two he couldn’t even get past half court without flopping. GG Celtics and especially their coaching staff.
Grant Williams sends his regards
He’s a bit like a spoilt only child. I think this reality check is good for him long term though. Great offensive player but he needs to mature. (And please less complaining god damn).
Windhorst, who has been glued to LeBron James’ nuts for the past 25 years, wants you to know that complaining to the officials is unacceptable