Luka Doncic has led his team brilliantly so far in the 2024 NBA Playoffs. While there have been a few ‘flat tire’ performances from the Slovenian here and there, he has seemingly always stepped up when the moment was at its biggest. Despite this, it appears that Paul Pierce just can’t seem to believe in the 25-year-old, and even went as far as to say that he wouldn’t be able to carry his team to the NBA Finals.
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During a recent episode ‘Ticket & the Truth’ Paul Pierce wasn’t feeling especially forgiving towards Doncic. Blaming his injuries for his potential downfall in the future, he said,
“I don’t see him going no further after if he makes it through this series, it’s going to be tough trying to get to the Finals. It’s just like he is slowing down… Me watching this dawg, it just goes to show you how hard it is to win. It’s hard to win!”
To be fair to Paul Pierce, he wasn’t looking to take shots at Luka Doncic, as he further explained why he believed in his take, despite how outlandish it initially sounds,
“So many things has got to go right! You got to be healthy, you got to be on your game! It’s just so much, you just… it’s just so many things that go into winning it, and getting to the finals, and making a deep playoff run, man! And it’s just one little, one little play can ruin the whole run, bro!”
It is very difficult to argue against Paul Pierce’s point. After all, across history, who knows how many contenders in the NBA have had their playoff runs discombobulated due to injuries? Even the infamously strong superteam Golden State Warriors, arguably the strongest team of all time, succumbed to them in the 2019 NBA Finals.
Further proving his point, Doncic has been suffering from both back and neck-related ailments throughout the postseason so far. While he has been playing through them, it’s clear that they are limiting his play. And as Pierce puts it, it just takes a single play for everything to go wrong, and a team to go home.
Suffice it to say, Pierce is beyond bearish on the Mavericks’ playoff run, and will likely never trust the Slovenian to carry a team to an NBA championship. However, despite his disbelief today, it appears that the Boston Celtics legend was beyond proud of the star in 2021, even going as far as comparing him to himself.
Paul Pierce believed he and Luka Doncic were very similar
Back in 2021, Paul Pierce was still one of the hosts of ESPN’s ‘The Jump’. During this time, he was asked to comment on a few of Luka Doncic’s offensive highlights. Reacting to them, he said,
“He got a lot of me in him!”
Pierce later explained how they both looked a bit lackadaisical on offense, but eventually got where they wanted to go and got the bucket they needed.
While there may be enough here to justify the Boston Celtics legend’s statement, it’s unlikely that the Slovenian will want to acknowledge it now, given Pierce’s most recent statement.
Additionally, given that the Dallas Mavericks have now made it to the Western Conference Finals, he may be well on his way to prove the legend wrong anyway.
