“Is Luka Doncic becoming a diva?”: Skip Bayless rips into Mavericks star for pouting after not getting the ball in clutch vs Giannis Antetokounmpo and co

Skip Bayless called Luka Doncic a diva after the Mavericks star was refused shots down the stretch of their loss to Giannis and the Bucks.

Khris Middleton scored eight points of his 25 points in the final 2:30 of the Bucks’ 112-109 victory. Middleton took over after James Johnson’s corner 3-pointer with 3:09 left put Dallas ahead 104-103. This was the Mavericks’ first lead since the opening five minutes.

The Mavs had won 11 of their last 14 regular-season meetings with the Bucks before this game. Dallas also won both preseason matchups in Milwaukee last month. Luka had a near triple-double for himself once again, netting 28 points, 9 rebounds and 13 assists. Luka shot 12-of-24 from the field.

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This game serves as a preview to possible Finals matchups in the future between two European superstars. Both Luka Doncic and Giannis are more than capable of leading their teams in the postseason given their immense talent levels.

Skip Bayless calls Luka Doncic a diva for pouting after loss to Bucks

Dallas had chances to win this one despite trailing by 14 points early in the game. However, Trey Burke and Kristaps Porzingis missed potential go-ahead 3-point shots in the final 21 seconds. Doncic appeared to want a timeout to be called once Dallas got the offensive rebound off Burke’s miss. The Mavs instead worked the ball to Porzingis, who missed with 10.4 seconds left.

“It’s very difficult to call a timeout and go against a Milwaukee set defense out of the timeout,” Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle said. Carlisle added that he thought the Mavericks got two good shots.

“It’s Coach’s decision,” Doncic said. “If we would have made the shot, everything would have been good.”

Despite this level-headed answer, Skip came baying for the young Slovenian’s blood on Twitter:

“Is Luka turning into a pouty diva??? Looked like he was mad at teammates/coaches when he didn’t get a touch as Mavs missed 2 go-ahead threes. Uh, last season, he was 1-10 on late shots to tie or win.”

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Bayless is not alone, nor is this the first time Doncic has aired his dissent in public. He ripped up his jersey during a game in his rookie season as well. However, it just speaks to how involved Luka is in the game rather than to his personality. It’s wrong to call him a diva for caring so much about taking an L.