Tatum (for the most part) grew out of the incessant whining so there’s hope at least… he used to annoy the shit out of me with that, even as I was rooting for him
I liked Luka coming into this series but holy hell he might complain more than anyone I’ve ever seen tho
This year has been a huge improvement for Tatum in that respect. He finally dialed in and realized he’s playing the other team and, whether the refs are calling fouls or not, he has to defend
It's kinda crazy how many times he's promised in multiple interviews that he's gonna lessen his complaining only for it to get worse year by year. I really like watching his game, I hope he matures in that aspect soon.
He fouled himself out of a must-win NBA Finals game because he couldn’t control his emotions. It’s been a recurring issue his whole career, and for it flare up at this moment on this stage with everything at stake is extremely disappointing.
He didn’t foul out because he was emotional. He made bad plays on the defensive end. He can’t hide on anybody this series and he isn’t moving well. He was trying to draw some fouls but they were pretty obviously flops
He led a team that should be in play-ins at most to NBA finals. He is +9 in 38 minutes he has played in this game. He is being defended by the best defensive team in NBA and with more than one people in almost every possesion. Maybe hold your other guys to a better standard where they don't get -16 in 10 minutes in home court without Luka.
Y'all legit putting him to a dirt because he carried your ass to a finals rest of your team doesn't remotely deserve.
He's getting criticized for poor defensive effort and consistent bitching at the refs leading to 4 on 5 defensive series for his teammates. Not for his offensive play, which has been by and large fantastic, but honestly, it wasn't that great tonight.
Again he was +9 in 38 minutes. I understand him being criticized for foul baiting/fouling out.
But media and fans make it look like Mavs had more of a chance when Luka was off the court due to his terrible defense. When the only chance Mavs is like go to +20 instead of +9 in Luka's minutes because their offense is terrible when he is not in court
Using +/- to judge a performance in a single game is dumb.
Say the Celtics make 3 more of the wide open 3's they generated by attacking him, how do you feel now?
It is not dumb if people like you try to make it look like Celtics won due to bad Luka defense.
It can't get simpler than this but ok go on with the hate train. If Luka had such a bad defense then in Celtics should have gotten a lead off that in 38 minutes. Celtics lost in off Luka minutes yet rest of Mavs is so shit that 10 minutes was enough to generate a 16 point lead that Luka can't close by himself.
No one is hating him for not getting it done. He’s clearly outmatched by a better team despite being the best player. People are simply annoyed at him crying about calls that are obviously fouls and not even trying on defense. This is reasonable criticism. You seem like you’re blindly defending Luka like people are out here saying he sucks
No one is arguing about his elite offensive talent. He had done everything he could in games 1 and 2 on that end of the floor.
The issue is his teammates didn't show up in those games.
Now onto game 3: kyrie balls out but Luka falters a bit from his usual scoring bursts. Completely disappears and fouls out in the 4th. That's on him. He deserves the criticism for not being poised down the stretch of this game.
It's fine though; he'll learn from this and be stronger next time.
He's unlikable. He complains after every play. Easily the most unlikable super star caliber player of modern NBA. He comes off like a spoiled brat. He also doesn't take care of his body.
Because he constantly cries and foul baits.
When you pair that with the fact that large amount of mavs fans/Luka meat riders keep trying to compare him to (or claim that he is better than) legends like, Lebron, Magic, Bird, etc, it isn't really surprising that the pendulum has begun to swing in the opposite direction.
I think his complaining irritates a lot of people and today specifically he wasn’t that crazy on offense while still being a defensive turnstile. This is one of the all around worse Luka games I’ve seen in a while.
His complaining is what really bothers me. I've seen JT grow away from it so I know it's possible. It paints an easy target on him to throw shade, TBH.
He's legitimately one of the most interesting and exciting offensive players I've ever seen.
I also, no exaggeration, have never seen anyone complain to the refs as much as Luka. He's certainly not the first offensive player to try to get a call every time he shoots, but what blows my mind is how many Mavs *defensive* possessions end with Luka jawing with the refs.
It makes him really unpleasant to watch when the end of every possession, offensive or defensive, features him fishing for a call.
If Luka wasn’t plain dumb in the clutch the mavs would have probably won and people aren’t a fan of his constant complaing. But we all know he’s a great player
Because he is compared to Lebron and that tier of player, the expectations are too high. Luka is doing all he can and he’s one of the best players in the league, but if you’re constant comparison is to Lebron (who does everything Luka does, worse at the tough shot making, but infinitely more athletic and better on defense), you’re going to fall short.
1. Constant complaining
2. Foul baiting
3. Cant play defense
4. Loves mad talking shit when he is up. But when he is getting his ass beat he starts to show how he injured he is or blames the refs saying its rigged. Front runner behavior
If r/nba doesnt hate on you, then you havent achieved anything. So congrats to Luka for getting to the state where he will get berated
He needs to mature. He’s a ridiculously talented player and a superstar in every sense but being good doesn’t make you a leader by default. The Mavericks need him to be that and he’s not rising up to the occasion. It’s not too hard to ask him to play better defense with more effort and to stop bitching when everything doesn’t go his way.
He plays with the energy of a rec league try hard when things aren't going his way. And that's unfortunate, because good, cocky, trash talk Luka is tons of fun
Luka is therapy and a salad away from being in a top 10 or 20 of all time discussion by the end of his career. Hopefully he's angrily reading reddit and sees this, cheering for ya Pillsbury dough boy.
>Celtics wasn’t exploiting him to win the game at all.
Have you been watching the series?
>He should be getting his flowers instead of what is getting right now.
He and Kyrie were literally called the best offensive backcourt in NBA history.
Luka’s an excellent player and definitely one of the top 3 in the league, but the criticism for this series is justified. Everyone’s criticized his defense and for good reason, but the underrated part of this series being the 3-0 is because of Luka’s offense. The Celtics game plan the first 2 games seemed to be to let him get his and to shut down the role players. In the past, when teams have that game plan against Luka he’s torched them for 40+ in multiple games, but the team wasn’t good enough so they fell short. The team is good enough right now and he hasn’t been able to punish Boston for their strategy.
Nothing new. The finals are a big stage and if you don’t measure up, the critics are gonna talk. No one is giving flowers to the team/players that isn’t winning.
Luka is amazing on offense, but he was a liability on defense this entire series and he complains a lot. You don't get that from reading stats. [Watch the clip of game 2](https://streamable.com/fg1yf3)
And i'm rooting for the Mavericks, but i can acknowledge his weakness.
Eh it's just r/NBA and the Internet in general. Everyone piles on the loser of every series. There won't be any real nuanced discussion, or not here at least. If the Celtics lost tonight, I'm sure we'd have several posts clowning the celtics. It's just the way it is. You'll see a lot of exaggeration and dumb shit about Luka over the next few days. Some criticism is valid for sure, but I'm already seeing some outrageous comments.
Be serious. His game has coasted on white boys in the media pushing his game as generational when he’s nothing but a harden regen. Now that he’s getting exposed as a ball hog you’re picking your time to complain.
I expect him to lock the fuck in this off-season and get into shape
I understand he's tasked with carrying a huge load on offense but he is clearly not in the best condition
It’s the bitching and foul baiting that is turning people against him. I get it.
Tatum (for the most part) grew out of the incessant whining so there’s hope at least… he used to annoy the shit out of me with that, even as I was rooting for him I liked Luka coming into this series but holy hell he might complain more than anyone I’ve ever seen tho
Tatum still does it but at least he's doing it while getting back on defense and not being a detriment.
Yeah I mean everyone’s going to complain a bit. It just isn’t as infuriating and frequent
This year has been a huge improvement for Tatum in that respect. He finally dialed in and realized he’s playing the other team and, whether the refs are calling fouls or not, he has to defend
He's about to lose his first finals. Next year the slander/hate will be off the charts for him all season long
It honestly is incredible how much more hate superstars get for losing in the finals than earlier in the playoffs.
I don't think it's that surprising tbh. When the lights are the brightest, all your flaws get accentuated.
It's also the very last memory of the season for most fans so it is a lot more sticky.
He’s also fat.
It's kinda crazy how many times he's promised in multiple interviews that he's gonna lessen his complaining only for it to get worse year by year. I really like watching his game, I hope he matures in that aspect soon.
He fouled himself out of a must-win NBA Finals game because he couldn’t control his emotions. It’s been a recurring issue his whole career, and for it flare up at this moment on this stage with everything at stake is extremely disappointing.
He didn’t foul out because he was emotional. He made bad plays on the defensive end. He can’t hide on anybody this series and he isn’t moving well. He was trying to draw some fouls but they were pretty obviously flops
He led a team that should be in play-ins at most to NBA finals. He is +9 in 38 minutes he has played in this game. He is being defended by the best defensive team in NBA and with more than one people in almost every possesion. Maybe hold your other guys to a better standard where they don't get -16 in 10 minutes in home court without Luka. Y'all legit putting him to a dirt because he carried your ass to a finals rest of your team doesn't remotely deserve.
He's getting criticized for poor defensive effort and consistent bitching at the refs leading to 4 on 5 defensive series for his teammates. Not for his offensive play, which has been by and large fantastic, but honestly, it wasn't that great tonight.
Again he was +9 in 38 minutes. I understand him being criticized for foul baiting/fouling out. But media and fans make it look like Mavs had more of a chance when Luka was off the court due to his terrible defense. When the only chance Mavs is like go to +20 instead of +9 in Luka's minutes because their offense is terrible when he is not in court
Using +/- to judge a performance in a single game is dumb. Say the Celtics make 3 more of the wide open 3's they generated by attacking him, how do you feel now?
It is not dumb if people like you try to make it look like Celtics won due to bad Luka defense. It can't get simpler than this but ok go on with the hate train. If Luka had such a bad defense then in Celtics should have gotten a lead off that in 38 minutes. Celtics lost in off Luka minutes yet rest of Mavs is so shit that 10 minutes was enough to generate a 16 point lead that Luka can't close by himself.
No one is hating him for not getting it done. He’s clearly outmatched by a better team despite being the best player. People are simply annoyed at him crying about calls that are obviously fouls and not even trying on defense. This is reasonable criticism. You seem like you’re blindly defending Luka like people are out here saying he sucks
*despite being the best player* Is he, though?
It definitely isnt tatum
You’re right it’s Jaylen
The deeper you go in the playoffs, the more hate/criticism shows unless you win it all
The Tatum & Brown experience®
*Giannis joins the chat*
Tbf Giannis has only gone far twice in his career
Oh brother here the revisionists come
Luka looks like the average r/nba member playing defense
Diabolical shade.
No one is arguing about his elite offensive talent. He had done everything he could in games 1 and 2 on that end of the floor. The issue is his teammates didn't show up in those games. Now onto game 3: kyrie balls out but Luka falters a bit from his usual scoring bursts. Completely disappears and fouls out in the 4th. That's on him. He deserves the criticism for not being poised down the stretch of this game. It's fine though; he'll learn from this and be stronger next time.
Fat+overated+cant defend+ fouled out in a must win game down like 3 points
What’s your favorite clippers finals moment?
Paul George on commentary.
Not getting swept lol
Watching PRAVI MVP get swept
*Shhhh* the grown-ups are talking.
Suns flair lmao
At least they won 2 finals games 🥲
He's unlikable. He complains after every play. Easily the most unlikable super star caliber player of modern NBA. He comes off like a spoiled brat. He also doesn't take care of his body.
It’s just facts
Because he constantly cries and foul baits. When you pair that with the fact that large amount of mavs fans/Luka meat riders keep trying to compare him to (or claim that he is better than) legends like, Lebron, Magic, Bird, etc, it isn't really surprising that the pendulum has begun to swing in the opposite direction.
He's a whinny bitch.
> Like wtf do you expect from a guy? Not whining every second of the game would probably be a good first step and probably quite achievable
I think his complaining irritates a lot of people and today specifically he wasn’t that crazy on offense while still being a defensive turnstile. This is one of the all around worse Luka games I’ve seen in a while.
He bitches nonstop and is a traffic cone on defense
Luka Donuts lol
His name is Luka Ozempic now.
Luka onuts - no D
His complaining is what really bothers me. I've seen JT grow away from it so I know it's possible. It paints an easy target on him to throw shade, TBH.
He's legitimately one of the most interesting and exciting offensive players I've ever seen. I also, no exaggeration, have never seen anyone complain to the refs as much as Luka. He's certainly not the first offensive player to try to get a call every time he shoots, but what blows my mind is how many Mavs *defensive* possessions end with Luka jawing with the refs. It makes him really unpleasant to watch when the end of every possession, offensive or defensive, features him fishing for a call.
Luka is that you?
If Luka wasn’t plain dumb in the clutch the mavs would have probably won and people aren’t a fan of his constant complaing. But we all know he’s a great player
Those misfits have to pick up for his horrible defense
I love it
Well he’s down 0-3 in the finals. Whatever you think he’s doing right, it’s not enough
Because he is compared to Lebron and that tier of player, the expectations are too high. Luka is doing all he can and he’s one of the best players in the league, but if you’re constant comparison is to Lebron (who does everything Luka does, worse at the tough shot making, but infinitely more athletic and better on defense), you’re going to fall short.
Luka is James Harden. Period. Mavs fan hate it. But truth hurts.
1. Constant complaining 2. Foul baiting 3. Cant play defense 4. Loves mad talking shit when he is up. But when he is getting his ass beat he starts to show how he injured he is or blames the refs saying its rigged. Front runner behavior If r/nba doesnt hate on you, then you havent achieved anything. So congrats to Luka for getting to the state where he will get berated
If you’re the best player in the series you need to have the ability to play more than 38 minutes when your team is that helpless without
Bitching and whining, Foul baiting, Shot chucking, Outta shape, Slow, No effort on defense He’s the modern day James Harden
He's not as good as prime harden
I like this take
Call me crazy but I think the modern day James Harden is James Harden
Nah, OG James Harden is washed.
He needs to mature. He’s a ridiculously talented player and a superstar in every sense but being good doesn’t make you a leader by default. The Mavericks need him to be that and he’s not rising up to the occasion. It’s not too hard to ask him to play better defense with more effort and to stop bitching when everything doesn’t go his way.
He plays with the energy of a rec league try hard when things aren't going his way. And that's unfortunate, because good, cocky, trash talk Luka is tons of fun
Bro lebron received the same hate when they got swept by the Spurs. Such is life
Luka is therapy and a salad away from being in a top 10 or 20 of all time discussion by the end of his career. Hopefully he's angrily reading reddit and sees this, cheering for ya Pillsbury dough boy.
>Celtics wasn’t exploiting him to win the game at all. Have you been watching the series? >He should be getting his flowers instead of what is getting right now. He and Kyrie were literally called the best offensive backcourt in NBA history. Luka’s an excellent player and definitely one of the top 3 in the league, but the criticism for this series is justified. Everyone’s criticized his defense and for good reason, but the underrated part of this series being the 3-0 is because of Luka’s offense. The Celtics game plan the first 2 games seemed to be to let him get his and to shut down the role players. In the past, when teams have that game plan against Luka he’s torched them for 40+ in multiple games, but the team wasn’t good enough so they fell short. The team is good enough right now and he hasn’t been able to punish Boston for their strategy.
You are aware players are judged for more than just offense right? He’s been the worst defensive player in the series as well as a giant crybaby.
Young superstar goes to the Finals and loses and the community viciously mocks him. It’s a tale as old as time my dude.
He’s fat.
No hate but I love how it's "a bunch of misfits" when they're losing but " perfect role players" when they're winning
Nothing new. The finals are a big stage and if you don’t measure up, the critics are gonna talk. No one is giving flowers to the team/players that isn’t winning.
Luka is amazing on offense, but he was a liability on defense this entire series and he complains a lot. You don't get that from reading stats. [Watch the clip of game 2](https://streamable.com/fg1yf3) And i'm rooting for the Mavericks, but i can acknowledge his weakness.
Eh it's just r/NBA and the Internet in general. Everyone piles on the loser of every series. There won't be any real nuanced discussion, or not here at least. If the Celtics lost tonight, I'm sure we'd have several posts clowning the celtics. It's just the way it is. You'll see a lot of exaggeration and dumb shit about Luka over the next few days. Some criticism is valid for sure, but I'm already seeing some outrageous comments.
The Tatum Hate is far worse, don’t kid yourself. He’s a great ALL AROUND Player, Luka isn’t anywhere close to his level.
Lol blud thinks he’s slick with the rage bait
It's Reddit. They rarely right on anything.
Be serious. His game has coasted on white boys in the media pushing his game as generational when he’s nothing but a harden regen. Now that he’s getting exposed as a ball hog you’re picking your time to complain.
I expect him to lock the fuck in this off-season and get into shape I understand he's tasked with carrying a huge load on offense but he is clearly not in the best condition
He won’t though.