There’s no denying the fact that Luka Doncic, a five-time All-NBA guard, is one of the best basketball players in the game today. The Dallas Mavericks wouldn’t be playing in the NBA Finals if it weren’t for the Slovenian Superstar’s presence.
Yet, Doncic is facing a heavy amount of criticism following the Mavericks’ Game 3 Finals loss to the Boston Celtics, in which he fouled out with 4:12 left to play. It was arguably one of the most significant plays of the game, considering the Mavericks were suddenly red-hot and trailed Boston by just three points.
The Celtics then pulled away in the final moments, winning 106-99. Despite Boston taking a commanding 3-0 series lead, the focus remained on Doncic, who tallied an inefficient 27 points on 27 shots.
Then, ESPN’s Brian Windhorst went scorched earth in his post-game analysis, where he revealed a juicy tidbit about Mavericks coaches “begging and pleading” with Doncic to stop complaining to refs about foul calls during the game.
“Yeah, I thought it was perfect that Luka fell on the ground. Unacceptable position to put himself in with four minutes left and five fouls, and then immediately looks at the bench and says ‘You better f—ing challenge that!’ As if it’s the benches’ fault that he just made a terrible play. Now you’ve got a situation here where Luka’s complaining about the officiating, they have begged him, they have talked with him, they have pleaded with him, he is costing his team because of how he treats the officials. His performance in this game is unacceptable and the reason why the Mavericks are not going to win. He’s gotta get over this. The fact that he came out after the game and blamed the officials showed me he’s nowhere close yet. “
Brian Windhorst on Luka Doncic fouling out in Game 3 of NBA Finals
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