The Boston Celtics have quite simply blown away the Dallas Mavericks at the beginning of the pulsating NBA Finals series. The visitors faced a humiliating 89-107 away defeat at TD Garden, with franchise talisman Luka Doncic fighting a lone battle with his 30 points. His misery was further compounded when the Slovenian later engaged in a back-and-forth with a reporter.
Advertisement
Shortly after the embarrassing defeat, Doncic expectedly looked demoralized during his post-game conference appearance. This didn’t stop the reporters from coming at him with pointed questions. One of them even raised doubts about the team’s confidence level to ensure a comeback in the series following the one-sided nature of the Game 1 contest.
This dubious query immediately took the 25-year-old aback. However, soon after regaining composure, he simply shrugged it off, saying, “You want me to say we have no confidence?”. To this, the reporter blatantly pointed out his intention of chasing headlines through such questions. “Of course,” Doncic responded to play along with the journalist with a smile on his face.
This ambiguous yet hilarious exchange caught the eyes of the NBA fans on X (formerly Twitter), receiving a mixed bag of reactions from all around.
"Does that give you guys confidence though?"
Luka: "Of course. You want me to say we have no confidence?"
"I just want to hear you say it. It's good for our stories"
Luka: "Of course" 😂pic.twitter.com/SYFCzTwvIA
— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) June 7, 2024
This question came to the forefront solely because of the way the two finalists navigated during the clash. The hosts took a 20-point lead by the end of the first half, virtually ensuring their stranglehold on the game’s outcome. The Mavs, consequently, failed to make up for this significant deficit in the subsequent quarters, raising eyebrows over their capabilities.
That said, it’s worth mentioning that Doncic has been here before on many occasions. And more often than not, he has spearheaded a comeback for his franchise despite going down 0-1 early in a playoff series. So, his display of confidence on the roster and himself remained justified.
Additionally, he is no stranger to outsiders raising question marks about his team’s quality.
How Luka Doncic has always handled the criticism
His tactic of going with the flow under these circumstances has worked wonders for him. The NBA saw a glimpse of one such instance early this year.
During the Mavs’ 109-132 home defeat to the Phoenix Suns in late January, Doncic was constantly heckled by an opposition fan. The latter allegedly called him overweight, mockingly urging him to get back into shape. The 2019 ROTY maintained his composure throughout the taunts, before eventually leaving the arena to get away from the negativity.
However, this failed to put an end to this chapter. When Doncic joined the media after this upsetting defeat, ESPN’s Tim MacMahon brought forward his on-court reaction under the limelight to get to the core of the matter. This frustrated the Mavs guard, prompting him to announce,
“I knew you would be the first to highlight it, but I won’t say what he said. It’s funny, you always say negative things about me first… It’s just that you’re always the first to say and connect bad things to me. The fan was insulting me throughout the entire game. They paid for tickets, but I had enough, I was frustrated. Okay, I’m the bad guy in the media.”
So, his recent stance had major similarities with this moment. Understandably, Doncic has reached a point in his career where he possibly prefers to answer the critics with his game, rather than his words. The Slovenian may just continue to do so in the coming years, highlighting his sole focus on the craft.
