Luka Doncic‘s poor defense, especially in the Dallas Mavericks’ Game 3 loss, has cast a shadow over his entire postseason run. It has now become the biggest topic of discussion in the ongoing NBA Finals. Former NBA star Gilbert Arenas and his co-hosts of the Gil’s Arena podcast recently took the criticism to another level by claiming that the Mavericks superstar’s style of defense is dumb.
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Arenas even compared Luka’s defense to an old-school 2K game. Referring to Luka trying to defend against Jaylen Brown in the fourth quarter, Kenyon Martin said that the five-time All-Star was dumb for simply standing in the way of Brown as he was charging toward the basket.
Arenas took his point further, saying, “He’s doing what he has done every single time someone tries to drive…Luka’s dumb defensively. Because if he was smart he’d know that most of his work has to be done way before this person gets there.”
The three-time All-Star further pointed out that Luka’s idea of defending someone is to just stand in their way, waiting to get hit and be sent to the floor. He said that this can never be a viable technique, especially when you are playing basketball at the highest level. Most of the work has to be done pre-emptively, either by anticipating an offensive play or forcing the offensive player to go a certain way.
In addition to that, Arenas also compared Luka’s game to a 2k skill. He said, “It’s the weirdest sh*t. It’s 2K defense. Remember old school 2K games when people used to try to take charges…they just hold the button and then you run in, and you fall…that’s what he does.”
The criticism against the 25-year-old for his poor defense is not new. It’s almost the same story every year and it has become a tradition at this point.
Luka has never been a great defensive player and he has still managed to take his team to the NBA Finals with his offensive output. But he has become a defensive liability against a dominant Boston side in the Finals.
On the other side of the argument, Draymond Green believes that the Mavs star is doing a phenomenal job on the defensive end by his standards.
Draymond Green speaks out in Luka Doncic’s support
On a recent episode of The Draymond Green Show, the Warriors star lashed out at the media for conveniently picking apart Luka’s defense in the name of criticism. He said that they are not breaking a new piece of information and that it’s only a point of discussion because the Mavs have lost three games in a row.
Prior to that, everyone was busy applauding the same player for being a great leader for his franchise.
He said, “Quite frankly, I think it’s bullsh*t because he is not defending any differently than he has before. If I’m honest, I’ve seen in pockets of this playoffs run for them…him defend at the highest level I’ve ever seen him defend.”
Green’s guest on the podcast, Derek Fisher also agreed with him on the media trying their best to make Luka the scapegoat for the losses.
