Five-time NBA champion Michael Cooper recently took a shot a Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic.
Cooper, one of the best players in Los Angeles Lakers history, called Doncic “lazy.”
“To me, he’s lazy,” Cooper said on his podcast. “Doesn’t hustle back on defense.”
The Mavericks lost to the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals in five games. Doncic is a talented offensive player, but he’s a below-average defender.
According to NBA insider Ramona Shelburne of ESPN, Jason Kidd and Mavericks players have told Doncic to stop whining to refs, give more effort on defense and get in better shape.
“In the three seasons he has coached Doncic, Kidd has told him several truths: that he needed to stop making enemies of officials with persistent whining; that he needed to give a more consistent effort on defense; and that he needed to get in better shape to be at his best when his team needed him,” Shelburne wrote. “Kidd has said these things publicly and privately. So have Doncic’s teammates in Dallas and on the Slovenian national team.”
A five-time All-Star, Doncic averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists, 1.4 steals and 0.5 blocks last season for the Mavericks while shooting 48.7% from the field, 38.2% from beyond the arc and 78.6% from the free-throw line. He was first in the NBA in points and points per game.
The Mavericks have a bright future with Doncic, Kyrie Irving and Klay Thompson leading the way. Thompson, a four-time champion with the Golden State Warriors, signed with Dallas this offseason.
For the Mavericks to win the title, Doncic has to get in better shape and give more effort on defense. He doesn’t have to change anything offensively. He’s already one of the greatest offensive weapons in NBA history.
A future Hall of Famer, Doncic has career averages of 28.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.2 steals and 0.5 blocks.
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Typical hating. Criticizing Luka alone for not defending Boston’s attack is ridiculous, since Boston as a whole was also unable to stop the one man offense of Doncic, and somehow I don’t hear anyone saying that Boston is a slacker on defense LOL
And Kyrie – whom Cooper cites – had the opportunity to prove himself, after all, and he had an abysmal finals, unlike Luka.