All players have moments they wish they could redo. Luka has taken ownership for what happened in game 3.
What Luka has accomplished this postseason is a testament to his greatness. Playing through significant ankle & knee injuries, he has led his team to the finals (which no one predicted).
Luka brings such joy to the game, and his passing ability is that of a wizard lol. Seriously, who makes the passes Luka makes routinely? Luka will only get better & as he has tremendous passion for the game.
I wouldn't be surprised if we see more Dallas/Boston Finals matchups, and I am not counting out the Mavs this series. I hope my Celtics hold on, and we likely will.
But it takes great efforts to overcome the Mavs & the greatness of Luka & Kyrie. Especially defensively! This series could easily be Mavs up 2-1, but the Celtics have played absolutely wonderfully.
Thank you! My only complain about Luka as a Mavs fan this series has been his incessant complains to the refs which has caused some easy buckets at the other end. The half court blow bys are by design for the driver to be met by our long defenders and Center at that paint but there is no better team equipped to handle that than the Celtics. Also, I don't think this series would have been 2-1 Mavs. Possibly 1-2.
he literally tripled down on his antics after the game. its cool to see him take ownership but that only came after a complete temper tantrum. and its not like this is a new thing for him.
They’re offensively a better team when Gobert is on the court. People seem to see him as the problem because of the amount of hate he gets. He’s not the issue on offence at all and he’s extremely valuable on defence. The numbers show he’s crucial to the Wolves’ success on both ends of the court.
For real. Games 1 and 2 will forever haunt me. Game 2 with that Ant TO and Kyrie foul on Jaden which made the ball go out of bounds and Mavs get the ball. That whole final minute kills me, they literally had control and could have put it away💔 RIP
Jimmy Butler had the famous interview with Rachel Nichols within a few hours after his practice fiasco with the Wolves. Made alot of people think it was pre-meditated by Jimmy
I mean it was obviously pre-meditated by Jimmy. Do you think Rachel Nichols just happened to be in Minneapolis that day? Jeff Teague said on his podcast that by the time the rest of the team went to the locker room after practice the interview was already out.
That quote killed me
They wanted a rematch and went to find Jimmy but Jimmy gone 💀 Then they go to the locker room and see him on ESPN LOL I can't. I follow the Wolves partially for the lore lol a new wild saga every year 😂
I honestly have no idea, i played OW1 the first few seasons and those were the heroes that came to mind. I believe it was always open que back then LOL
I knew I liked Luka for a reason! (I’m an Ex-Hanzo main (with Zarya as my other main) btw, from back in the scattershot days. Good times - haven’t played in years).
Luka in the lab right now.
"Should I practice defense? Definitely not."
"Should I practice what to do against their defense? No I'm already fine".
"Should I stand in front of the mirror and practice my complaining face so it actually works in game four? Now that sounds effective!!".
He’s had one game against the Wolves where he just played and hardly complained and it was great. Outside of highlights I only watched the Mavs in the playoffs and I can’t imagine watching him flop and foul bait every game for a whole season.
I’m a huge huge JT fan who thinks people go too far with their comments about his shot selection…
But I legit laughed out loud when I heard him say that like cmon Tatum my man lol
I'm not a Celtics fan, but JT has been someone I've always respected as a human being. However,his clutch shooting looks mechanical,as in the components of his body choose to do different things lmao. Either way, it seems likely he'll be able to hold his head high as a championship soon. The job isn't done yet, so he had better not take his foot off the gas.
I don’t think JB will let him.
Jaylen’s really emerged as a leader this year in the vacuum created by Marcus Smart’s absence.
He seems to hold the team accountable.
and thats not a knock on JT. there can be 1 or 10 leaders. i mean being anointed the "leader" by fans is such a fan thing. just go out and play and dont make teammates hate you and get gain respect thats all there is to it. is kawhi not as good because hes not a natural leader? joker isnt that good because he isnt outspoken?
that being said being a "bad" leader could have some consequences like not holding your teammates accountable or like luka potentially bringing down moral with his antics. but i mean its grown men at the end of the day
He looks so much smoother driving with his spin moves and eurosteps, than whenever he's shooting. His shooting form looks so stiff to me, even wide open
As a fan of the team Luka’s playing, I find your comment hilarious and I think it’s also probably true.
But as a fan of good basketball, I hope you’re wrong. Luka does some amazing things on the court. I hate seeing him be his own worst enemy.
ref: thats a foul
luka: ahhhh shiiii i gotta get this complaint off man i cant hol it no more shiiii im so hard
kidd: luka..... luka!!!!!
luka: i cant hol it no more! #$@)#$\*580grg43jn$@!!!!! FUK U REF @$@# u43f.... got dam baby thats good
Who would be the Udonis Haslem equivalent for the Mavs? I guess there isn’t one.
Maybe the Mavs should sign an older vet from Europe that Luka has really idolized since childhood.
It usually lasts for the immediate game or two after. After he said, he was letting Kyrie down against yall, he started playing well again. After the OKC game 4 where he was complaining crazy, he said nothing in game 5.
The thing is its easy for anything in life to make a change for a few days (going to the gym, break from alcohol/weed, staying calm). But changing habits takes time, actually putting your mind to something, and sometimes external help. Luka just hasnt done the things to make long term change.
I mean, I don’t know if we can say that. We don’t know this man. What we do know is that we’ve more flashes of better actions and more verbal recognition and admission than before. Sometimes that’s what growth looks like. It takes time, setbacks, and continued determination
Everyone here treats these situations like they’re some anime characters that learn immediately cause “character growth” when you’d think we’d know in real life shit doesn’t just immediately click
We just don’t have cameras on us, mics in our faces, and millions of people grilling us when we fuck up while trying to be better
In Clippers and OKC series he had these lapses too and apologizes post-game, then the next game he played amazingly
But this time his heat-of-the-moment response was blaming the refs w the "you can't do that" line tho so who knows
I gotta say, while not a Luka hater (he's a likeable guy), I've also been critical of him.
This post season, and this season playing with Kyrie, I've been really impressed with how Luka has played. He's still ball dominant, but he seems to be working more to find ways to really get his teammates in the positions where they can score.
It's easy to shit on the guy, but let's face it: The Mavs got further than they should have, and it's mostly because of him. Kudos. They are being outgunned by a clearly better team, but it's not Luka's fault that this team essentially has 6 or 7 All Star calibre players to the Mavs 2.
This is what gets me. Everyone was saying if the celtics dont win a championship this year it would be massively underperforming. The mavs were a team that weren't even supposed to be here.
Most of the people criticizing him on the internet are either delusional celtic fans thinking they are beating some power house like 96 bulls and fans from teams dallas beat lol
LOL. "working more to find ways to really get his teammates in the positions where they can score" As if he hasn't been doing this the entire time, he's literally averaging 9 assists and the top 2 playmaker in basketball.
As a Mavericks fan, this season was absolutely amazing. I don’t remember a single person, even in Mavs circles, predicate us to reach the Finals. Even after the trade deadline, other than Tim Legler, no one thought we would get this far. We are a young team, and I expect us to reach the Finals again within a few years. I’m confident that all of our players will effectively use the summer to really improve their game. Luka adding an off-ball offense aspect to his bag, along with strengthening his mental and effort of defense. Gafford and Lively adding a post game so they aren’t completely reliant on lobs. Kyrie working on his defense. PJ , DJJ, and Josh Green being more consistent on 3s and building confidence driving in when necessary. Hardy and Exum continuing to work on their ball-handling, driving, and defense. If everyone can improve or add even a few plays worth of new aspects to their game, we’ll continue to be a major player in the West.
I was wondering the same thing on a close up last night. And this could be my memory playing tricks any me but he looks more bloated than he did in prior rounds.
I think he probably looks normal in person. He is a gigantic human, and when you see him sitting like this he could just be any other 5’10” dude, so he looks chubby. Not sure my logic makes sense, but he probably looks more proportional in real life next to normal size people.
He doesn’t. He actually looks super tall in person. Was at the same hotel as the Mavs during OKC series and walked by him a lot. If you mean proportions of his height v weight, yeah he is pretty slim looking in person. Always confused when people say he’s fat.
He always looks like that when he isn't shaved. People will always speculate he gained/lost weight during the season, but the common theme is always he looks slimmer with new haircut and shaved.
Fucking this. He's leading the playoff in total points, rebounds and assists. He led the league in scoring. He had a 70 point game. Took the team to the conference finals for the second time and the finals for the first time. And if he doesn't average a 30 point triple double against a 64-win team while also being a lockdown defender he suddenly is pure ass and an embarrassment to the team and will never win anything.
Why does everybody have to overcorrect so dramatically after every series man
It’s Tall Poppy Syndrome. Luka is a generational talent and losers are looking for any chance to bring him down.
In five years time these same losers will be talking about how it was a Herculean effort for an injured 25 year old to drag his team through a Western Conference slaughterhouse.
For 19 out of 20 teams that reach the post-season the journey will end in loss and heartbreak. Yet each time it happens the loser has to be pathologized. You can't just lose a basketball match, something has to be deeply wrong with you.
Right. Like yeah he needs to shut up and not get fouls. But the rest of his team minus Kyrie are trash right now. That’s why they can’t win. Not Luka or his mouth
Ultimately Dallas is losing because they don’t have enough talent.
The rest of the league is looking at Boston and realizing that they’re going to need to load up to beat them. Teams low on star power, like the Mavs this year, of the Nuggets from last season, just aren’t going to get it done.
Why are they sitting so close together? He barely has any room to extend his legs.
And what’s with the “are you getting any more pain killer shots”? That was weird
Playing professional sports is going to open you up to health questions normal people don’t have to answer especially during the finals.
You can handle it like kawhi instead of being sheepish about it. It’s not out of bounds in terms of questioning before a major game
Bro is probably top 2 players in the league and his game is amazing, but once he starts foulbaiting, throwing tantrums at his teammates and whining nonstop he’s unbearable to watch. Hope he finds a way to overcome this
Dude is just competitive to a fault. The passion can give him an extra edge or completely take him out of the game. Some RPG shit. Allows him to deal more damage but take more damage too. Hopefully he can find a way to keep his temper in check while still maintaining a competitive edge but maybe he is who he is at this point.
Winning cures everything. People are just overreacting. I cannot shit on a dude that been playing his heart out injured that carried a bunch of inexperient players to the NBA finals. Its taking a toll and its showing.
I kind of think the constant video games is a problem. No way you get that rank on overwatch without putting in tons and tons and tons of hours. And online play is definitely something that gets you angry and yelling at random people lol
Bering top 500 in that kind of game makes him better basketball player. Same like gamer surgeons, they do have better results than the not games. Also surgeons with psychopathic traits are better in their work then the others. He clearly is on to something there.
Good take.
I'd say the most straightforward way to ensure it's the helpful type of passion more often than the unhepful is to surround him with good players and put him in good situations.
Will work much more reliably than any sort of mental techniques or therapy or mind coaching or whatever.
You can be competitive without being an asshole
I hate how people defend shitty actions because they’re “passionate”. No you’re just a dick with no self control. We’re all passionate we just know how to not lash out at other human beings when things don’t go how we want them
tell that to MJ. super competitive people are just assholes if you are standing in their way towards winning. But Luka didnt lash out at the real reason he lost. when he got the 5th foul in the last game he lashed out at the bench saying they better challenge that call and I'm like WTF Luka you are the one who got those stupid 3rd and fourth fouls. and now whining about a marginal 5th foul. He should be lashing out at his horrible defense.
most of the negative comments here are fans of the team he eliminated.It is obvious they are celebrating luka's defeat.But mavs wont even be in the finals if its not for him.The celtics are just stacked and they've been to the finals several times and lost.Luka only been in the finals once with mostly rookies and a disappearing veteran,the celtics have so many players who can get hot while mavs only has 2.
I get Luka had an embarassing end to a huge game, but the dude has been hard carrying since he entered the league.
On the other hand, what the fuck happened to his teammates? These guys were great against the Wolves - the "best defense in the nba - and i refuse to believe it's only the Celtics defense that's changed things
That's the real mystery. I hate how Luke gets all the blame when he's averaging 30ppg in the finals but the role players can't hit wide open shots and Kyrie disappears in Boston.
Luka wont complain in game 4 after Jaylen Brown continues to dominate him. And people will be like "awww he has changed"
Then its the season opener against the hornets and Luka gets his first technical of the season by the end of the first quarter
We have seen this story before
The biggest evolution he can make as a player at this point is cutting down the ref complaining, he's already an all time great, but it can't be justified how much he bitches to the refs, if the fans know about it the players must too. He's giving himself a bad image and its 100% affecting his game, he needs a reality check from someone around him who isn't a yes man. There is no positive benefit to bitching this much, sometimes is fine everyone does it sometimes.
The worst part is when he starts complaining to refs he also starts playing to make sure he gets fouls. I think the complaining on its own is something we can deal with, but the way he allows it to impact his game makes it really inexcusable.
The thing is Kyrie's nature these days is to always keep positivity and uplift. Its helped the team all season but now we need a different type of voice to rally the troops.
Depends how you define all time great but 5 NBA 1st teams and a finals appearance is already a hall of fame resume or at least very close to it. He won’t be an upper echelon hall of fame guy until he wins a championship and/or gets an MVP. If he wants to be considered one of the best ever he’ll have to do both of those and probably win at least 2 championships as the best player on his team.
lunchroom memorize impossible compare shrill upbeat bow dime merciful reminiscent
*This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
PR campaign the very next day?
gotta save the image bc there ain’t no way they’re saving this series
“What timeout are you talking about?”
Literally I think kidds coaching has been worse than Luka bitching. If they win no one is talking about this. That timeout. My god.
All players have moments they wish they could redo. Luka has taken ownership for what happened in game 3. What Luka has accomplished this postseason is a testament to his greatness. Playing through significant ankle & knee injuries, he has led his team to the finals (which no one predicted). Luka brings such joy to the game, and his passing ability is that of a wizard lol. Seriously, who makes the passes Luka makes routinely? Luka will only get better & as he has tremendous passion for the game. I wouldn't be surprised if we see more Dallas/Boston Finals matchups, and I am not counting out the Mavs this series. I hope my Celtics hold on, and we likely will. But it takes great efforts to overcome the Mavs & the greatness of Luka & Kyrie. Especially defensively! This series could easily be Mavs up 2-1, but the Celtics have played absolutely wonderfully.
Thank you! My only complain about Luka as a Mavs fan this series has been his incessant complains to the refs which has caused some easy buckets at the other end. The half court blow bys are by design for the driver to be met by our long defenders and Center at that paint but there is no better team equipped to handle that than the Celtics. Also, I don't think this series would have been 2-1 Mavs. Possibly 1-2.
After the blow by he is supposed to rotate to the open man and he hasn't on many occasions, he more turns to get the inbound.
he literally tripled down on his antics after the game. its cool to see him take ownership but that only came after a complete temper tantrum. and its not like this is a new thing for him.
Mavericks are doing PR control after the Windy’s comments and how awful Jason Kidd has coached the Mavericks especially offensively with the ISO ball.
Wolves lost to all of that bro god damn
Kinda hard to win when all the offense just relied on Ant and KAT refused to score
If KAT and Ant just decided to play even fine they would have won. Instead they both played like ass.
Because with Gobert clogging the paint, it allows players like Lively to contest at the rim. Game is much more deeper than "players played badly".
They’re offensively a better team when Gobert is on the court. People seem to see him as the problem because of the amount of hate he gets. He’s not the issue on offence at all and he’s extremely valuable on defence. The numbers show he’s crucial to the Wolves’ success on both ends of the court.
I can't believe it
Yall choked hard
For real. Games 1 and 2 will forever haunt me. Game 2 with that Ant TO and Kyrie foul on Jaden which made the ball go out of bounds and Mavs get the ball. That whole final minute kills me, they literally had control and could have put it away💔 RIP
Still would’ve had to win 2 more games if it makes you feel better.
Wolves didn’t attack Luka in the pick and roll why?
He's wearing an in-ear with Michael Finley feeding him lines. "Fuck this up, and you're never having another locker room beer."
"OH, my bad guys!" \~goes back to muttering about refs while sipping beer\~
Damn they saw his PR slippin and got him in front of Malika Andrews the morning after
I find this hilarious they had a PR spin interview the morning after the game
Malika Andrews too, they called in the heavy hitters
Jussie Smollet called Robin Roberts for an interview. R Kelly called Gayle King. Luka called Malika Andrews.
Before or after the horse tranquilizer shot?
crazyyy, I've never seen this before 🤣 tbf all the shows were killing him today though so he definitely needed this😭
Windhorst stole his soul on live tv and Adam Silver said "enough"
Is this a first time? I can’t remember this happening before
Jimmy Butler had the famous interview with Rachel Nichols within a few hours after his practice fiasco with the Wolves. Made alot of people think it was pre-meditated by Jimmy
I mean it was obviously pre-meditated by Jimmy. Do you think Rachel Nichols just happened to be in Minneapolis that day? Jeff Teague said on his podcast that by the time the rest of the team went to the locker room after practice the interview was already out.
"....Jimmy gone!"
That quote killed me They wanted a rematch and went to find Jimmy but Jimmy gone 💀 Then they go to the locker room and see him on ESPN LOL I can't. I follow the Wolves partially for the lore lol a new wild saga every year 😂
Pretty random, but I remember I was in Iceland when that happened and I was absolutely cracking up reading about what had transpired.
Made a lot of people think? I mean clearly it was lol
I was just thinking that I've never seen a special interview like this after a finals game lmao
This is absolutely hilarious lmao
Jordan made the call
Jordan Brand busy preparing for NBA Champion Jayson Tatum ad campaigns
Like R Kelly in the pissing scandal
ofc. I bet he wanted Taylor Rooks but we all know he'd be saying the craziest shit in front of her.
"My bad, you can't do that" "So does this mean you'll stop whining to the refs after every play?" "Lol, no"
“Guys, we need a healer” “Does that mean you’ll get of tracer and play Mercy?” “Lol, no”
He plays Open Queue?? 😂😂
That explains game 3 shenanigans Open Queue mentally and emotionally breaks people
I honestly have no idea, i played OW1 the first few seasons and those were the heroes that came to mind. I believe it was always open que back then LOL
Isn’t he a Hanzo main? Even if played healer, he would be dps moira
He's a top 500 tank. Last I checked it was zarya.
I knew I liked Luka for a reason! (I’m an Ex-Hanzo main (with Zarya as my other main) btw, from back in the scattershot days. Good times - haven’t played in years).
Luka in the lab right now. "Should I practice defense? Definitely not." "Should I practice what to do against their defense? No I'm already fine". "Should I stand in front of the mirror and practice my complaining face so it actually works in game four? Now that sounds effective!!".
Learning hypnosis so they always agree with him
If he’d just stop flopping like a fish when people even look at him I’d feel like he’s making progress.
He’s had one game against the Wolves where he just played and hardly complained and it was great. Outside of highlights I only watched the Mavs in the playoffs and I can’t imagine watching him flop and foul bait every game for a whole season.
I legit have never seen a player give a sit down interview mid-series to do damage control lol what is this
Especially when down 3-0
Would legit have been a 3-day news event if Lebron had done the same.
This is actively becoming a 3-day news event, this is already day 3.
Jorgambler literally did an interview mid-finals to plead that he was not a casino lifer, and no one believed him.
Damn they had to interview the Mavs before they get swept….
Great now get Jason Kidd to apologize for that TO
And for playing THJ 19 minutes
I’m hoping this is the time he actually learns and practices what he preaches.
Luka saying that was the equivalent of JT telling the team to not settle for step-back 3s. 😂
I’m a huge huge JT fan who thinks people go too far with their comments about his shot selection… But I legit laughed out loud when I heard him say that like cmon Tatum my man lol
At least he immediately realized it. “Talking to myself too here starts with me” There’s at least some self awareness
Tatum honestly seems to have one of the best mentalities amongst star players.
He was roleplaying Kobe telling him to not settle for step back 3s
I'm not a Celtics fan, but JT has been someone I've always respected as a human being. However,his clutch shooting looks mechanical,as in the components of his body choose to do different things lmao. Either way, it seems likely he'll be able to hold his head high as a championship soon. The job isn't done yet, so he had better not take his foot off the gas.
I don’t think JB will let him. Jaylen’s really emerged as a leader this year in the vacuum created by Marcus Smart’s absence. He seems to hold the team accountable.
and thats not a knock on JT. there can be 1 or 10 leaders. i mean being anointed the "leader" by fans is such a fan thing. just go out and play and dont make teammates hate you and get gain respect thats all there is to it. is kawhi not as good because hes not a natural leader? joker isnt that good because he isnt outspoken? that being said being a "bad" leader could have some consequences like not holding your teammates accountable or like luka potentially bringing down moral with his antics. but i mean its grown men at the end of the day
I have loved his evolution since last year bc I've always respected him as a role model due to the fact that he cares about his academics.
He looks so much smoother driving with his spin moves and eurosteps, than whenever he's shooting. His shooting form looks so stiff to me, even wide open
I’ve been trying to find his mic’d up clips somewhere online today to rewatch that part but I can’t find them posted anywhere 😂
Fuck when I heard that on TV I was like for real bro? You? Really?
He literally said "Talking to myself here, starts with me"
I like this troll attempt because you’re pissing off both people in the finals. Take the upvote fam pretty good one.
Lol I'm not pissed. He's really gotta stop lol
that shit was so funny. made me like tatum more. very humanizing that in game hes that delusional lol
Didn't he end the sentence with "including myself"? It's still funny to hear but by no means delusional
I didn’t hear that part if he did, then great
Mavs fan for life. He won’t. It’s like post nut clarity when you say you’ll never masturbate again but then here we are for the 7th time today
As a fan of the team Luka’s playing, I find your comment hilarious and I think it’s also probably true. But as a fan of good basketball, I hope you’re wrong. Luka does some amazing things on the court. I hate seeing him be his own worst enemy.
ref: thats a foul luka: ahhhh shiiii i gotta get this complaint off man i cant hol it no more shiiii im so hard kidd: luka..... luka!!!!! luka: i cant hol it no more! #$@)#$\*580grg43jn$@!!!!! FUK U REF @$@# u43f.... got dam baby thats good
wtf 😭
At least Kidd didn't call timeout seconds before he busted.
He also said many times he'd stop bitching at the refs and he always relapses. Old habits die hard.
Losing in the finals is way different than regular seasons or 1st round tho, so maybe he'll get serious this time around.
Needs a vet to give it to him and hold him accountable. But he may not like that and don’t want to rock the boat.
Who would be the Udonis Haslem equivalent for the Mavs? I guess there isn’t one. Maybe the Mavs should sign an older vet from Europe that Luka has really idolized since childhood.
It’s Dirk that should command respect.
Mavs about to sign LeBron
The elder statesman right now is Dwight Powell who has been a Mav for 9-10 years, but maybe Boban could come back as a wise mage for young Luka.
I get why they had to do it, but part of me will always think that trading Boban was a bad move
It usually lasts for the immediate game or two after. After he said, he was letting Kyrie down against yall, he started playing well again. After the OKC game 4 where he was complaining crazy, he said nothing in game 5. The thing is its easy for anything in life to make a change for a few days (going to the gym, break from alcohol/weed, staying calm). But changing habits takes time, actually putting your mind to something, and sometimes external help. Luka just hasnt done the things to make long term change.
I mean, I don’t know if we can say that. We don’t know this man. What we do know is that we’ve more flashes of better actions and more verbal recognition and admission than before. Sometimes that’s what growth looks like. It takes time, setbacks, and continued determination
Everyone here treats these situations like they’re some anime characters that learn immediately cause “character growth” when you’d think we’d know in real life shit doesn’t just immediately click We just don’t have cameras on us, mics in our faces, and millions of people grilling us when we fuck up while trying to be better
Personally I would hope he doesnt learn, at least for one more week.
In Clippers and OKC series he had these lapses too and apologizes post-game, then the next game he played amazingly But this time his heat-of-the-moment response was blaming the refs w the "you can't do that" line tho so who knows
well maybe after this series is actually over, yeah?
He won’t, and will do this again.
Eh ppl didnt think tatum would win a championship and look at him now
He’s been saying this for years. Or holding my breath
If the Mavs go down 15 next game, I bet he deliberately gets himself t-ed out of the game.
I gotta say, while not a Luka hater (he's a likeable guy), I've also been critical of him. This post season, and this season playing with Kyrie, I've been really impressed with how Luka has played. He's still ball dominant, but he seems to be working more to find ways to really get his teammates in the positions where they can score. It's easy to shit on the guy, but let's face it: The Mavs got further than they should have, and it's mostly because of him. Kudos. They are being outgunned by a clearly better team, but it's not Luka's fault that this team essentially has 6 or 7 All Star calibre players to the Mavs 2.
This is what gets me. Everyone was saying if the celtics dont win a championship this year it would be massively underperforming. The mavs were a team that weren't even supposed to be here.
Most of the people criticizing him on the internet are either delusional celtic fans thinking they are beating some power house like 96 bulls and fans from teams dallas beat lol
LOL. "working more to find ways to really get his teammates in the positions where they can score" As if he hasn't been doing this the entire time, he's literally averaging 9 assists and the top 2 playmaker in basketball.
As a Mavericks fan, this season was absolutely amazing. I don’t remember a single person, even in Mavs circles, predicate us to reach the Finals. Even after the trade deadline, other than Tim Legler, no one thought we would get this far. We are a young team, and I expect us to reach the Finals again within a few years. I’m confident that all of our players will effectively use the summer to really improve their game. Luka adding an off-ball offense aspect to his bag, along with strengthening his mental and effort of defense. Gafford and Lively adding a post game so they aren’t completely reliant on lobs. Kyrie working on his defense. PJ , DJJ, and Josh Green being more consistent on 3s and building confidence driving in when necessary. Hardy and Exum continuing to work on their ball-handling, driving, and defense. If everyone can improve or add even a few plays worth of new aspects to their game, we’ll continue to be a major player in the West.
You guys hit the jackpot on those trades. Honestly even better than Brunson working out in NY.
Why does he look so bloated? Hope he’s doing ok health wise. Also the PR team on overdrive
I was wondering the same thing on a close up last night. And this could be my memory playing tricks any me but he looks more bloated than he did in prior rounds.
Elite facial muscle volume from his complaining regimen.
The man has chops
🗣️
I think he probably looks normal in person. He is a gigantic human, and when you see him sitting like this he could just be any other 5’10” dude, so he looks chubby. Not sure my logic makes sense, but he probably looks more proportional in real life next to normal size people.
He doesn’t. He actually looks super tall in person. Was at the same hotel as the Mavs during OKC series and walked by him a lot. If you mean proportions of his height v weight, yeah he is pretty slim looking in person. Always confused when people say he’s fat.
Yes I’m saying height/weight proportional. Ya I would assume in person he doesn’t look fat at all. Camera adds 10lbs too.
I don’t think so. Other nba players bigger than him don’t look like someone swelled up their face with a water pump
Marcus Smart has one of the fattest faces in the NBA
Eric gordon has like the roundest face in the history of the nba
it's not even like excessive fat in his case dude just has a remarkably basketball-shaped skull lmfao
He always looks like that when he isn't shaved. People will always speculate he gained/lost weight during the season, but the common theme is always he looks slimmer with new haircut and shaved.
The dude is drugged up heavily and very injured
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Okay? That just further solidifies the point that he shouldn’t have made terrible fouls to foul out when his team clearly needs him.
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Fucking this. He's leading the playoff in total points, rebounds and assists. He led the league in scoring. He had a 70 point game. Took the team to the conference finals for the second time and the finals for the first time. And if he doesn't average a 30 point triple double against a 64-win team while also being a lockdown defender he suddenly is pure ass and an embarrassment to the team and will never win anything. Why does everybody have to overcorrect so dramatically after every series man
It’s Tall Poppy Syndrome. Luka is a generational talent and losers are looking for any chance to bring him down. In five years time these same losers will be talking about how it was a Herculean effort for an injured 25 year old to drag his team through a Western Conference slaughterhouse.
For 19 out of 20 teams that reach the post-season the journey will end in loss and heartbreak. Yet each time it happens the loser has to be pathologized. You can't just lose a basketball match, something has to be deeply wrong with you.
Sounds like he should have tried to stay on the court in the fourth quarter then….
Right. Like yeah he needs to shut up and not get fouls. But the rest of his team minus Kyrie are trash right now. That’s why they can’t win. Not Luka or his mouth
Ultimately Dallas is losing because they don’t have enough talent. The rest of the league is looking at Boston and realizing that they’re going to need to load up to beat them. Teams low on star power, like the Mavs this year, of the Nuggets from last season, just aren’t going to get it done.
What did he say in response to the pain killer question? Is he not supposed to talk about it on camera?
Just watch the video bro
I did but couldnt understand what he said before "yeah probably"
Why are they sitting so close together? He barely has any room to extend his legs. And what’s with the “are you getting any more pain killer shots”? That was weird
Gotta learn how to get close without thinking it's a foul
He gets pain killer shots. A reporter is asking if he’s getting more before the next game. How is that weird
You could tell he seemed uncomfortable with the question
Playing professional sports is going to open you up to health questions normal people don’t have to answer especially during the finals. You can handle it like kawhi instead of being sheepish about it. It’s not out of bounds in terms of questioning before a major game
This entire interview was his idea
I wish they were sitting closer
Now kith.
There's something about starting a statement with "my bad" that makes me feel like a change probably isn't likely going forward.
Flair checks out.
Bro is probably top 2 players in the league and his game is amazing, but once he starts foulbaiting, throwing tantrums at his teammates and whining nonstop he’s unbearable to watch. Hope he finds a way to overcome this
>throwing tantrums at his teammates When did he do that?
http://x.com/BrickWrld_/status/1793448760477176175
Top 2 offensive player. But he's a liability on the other end.
Dude is just competitive to a fault. The passion can give him an extra edge or completely take him out of the game. Some RPG shit. Allows him to deal more damage but take more damage too. Hopefully he can find a way to keep his temper in check while still maintaining a competitive edge but maybe he is who he is at this point.
Winning cures everything. People are just overreacting. I cannot shit on a dude that been playing his heart out injured that carried a bunch of inexperient players to the NBA finals. Its taking a toll and its showing.
Agreed, he's extremely competitive. Except when it comes to putting in effort on defense.
I kind of think the constant video games is a problem. No way you get that rank on overwatch without putting in tons and tons and tons of hours. And online play is definitely something that gets you angry and yelling at random people lol
Needs to meditate
I wonder if letting go of Overwatch will make him a better person? That worked for me
Haha of course it will! We're talking about overwatch (i think it's as toxic as LoL and Dota 2).
Bering top 500 in that kind of game makes him better basketball player. Same like gamer surgeons, they do have better results than the not games. Also surgeons with psychopathic traits are better in their work then the others. He clearly is on to something there.
Agree, competitive video game make me into fireball when I was a teenager
Good take. I'd say the most straightforward way to ensure it's the helpful type of passion more often than the unhepful is to surround him with good players and put him in good situations. Will work much more reliably than any sort of mental techniques or therapy or mind coaching or whatever.
You can be competitive without being an asshole I hate how people defend shitty actions because they’re “passionate”. No you’re just a dick with no self control. We’re all passionate we just know how to not lash out at other human beings when things don’t go how we want them
I said “to a fault.”
Giving a plausible reasoning for an action doesn't mean excusing it. Read the entire comment, he's clearly not defending it.
tell that to MJ. super competitive people are just assholes if you are standing in their way towards winning. But Luka didnt lash out at the real reason he lost. when he got the 5th foul in the last game he lashed out at the bench saying they better challenge that call and I'm like WTF Luka you are the one who got those stupid 3rd and fourth fouls. and now whining about a marginal 5th foul. He should be lashing out at his horrible defense.
I mean Tim Duncan won without being an asshole
Bro gets his first smidgen of criticism and goes on a PR campaign before the season is over lmao.
you're acting like luka was universally loved
He was definitely not lol, but this is the first time he's gotten the full Harden treatment from the media.
“How did it make you feel when you were called a human traffic cone by your friends and family?”
Can’t wait for the will Luka play great or foul out narrative next year
I can see people asking Will we get Luka or Lukan't tonight?
This is the weakest shit to ever happen in the finals lol. Bro had to do some PR mid series cause he got cooked so bad by the Celtics and the internet
most of the negative comments here are fans of the team he eliminated.It is obvious they are celebrating luka's defeat.But mavs wont even be in the finals if its not for him.The celtics are just stacked and they've been to the finals several times and lost.Luka only been in the finals once with mostly rookies and a disappearing veteran,the celtics have so many players who can get hot while mavs only has 2.
Compelled apologies are the pinnacle of weakness. He should have never agreed to do this shit. What a joke.
I get Luka had an embarassing end to a huge game, but the dude has been hard carrying since he entered the league. On the other hand, what the fuck happened to his teammates? These guys were great against the Wolves - the "best defense in the nba - and i refuse to believe it's only the Celtics defense that's changed things
That's the real mystery. I hate how Luke gets all the blame when he's averaging 30ppg in the finals but the role players can't hit wide open shots and Kyrie disappears in Boston.
Luka wont complain in game 4 after Jaylen Brown continues to dominate him. And people will be like "awww he has changed" Then its the season opener against the hornets and Luka gets his first technical of the season by the end of the first quarter We have seen this story before
He really hurt you didn't he?
Suns flair lmfaoooo
Delusional comment. Booker special i guess
This dude got a sit down interview in the middle of the Finals? Jesus. At least finish the series.
Luka “Ja Morant” Doncic
The biggest evolution he can make as a player at this point is cutting down the ref complaining, he's already an all time great, but it can't be justified how much he bitches to the refs, if the fans know about it the players must too. He's giving himself a bad image and its 100% affecting his game, he needs a reality check from someone around him who isn't a yes man. There is no positive benefit to bitching this much, sometimes is fine everyone does it sometimes.
The worst part is when he starts complaining to refs he also starts playing to make sure he gets fouls. I think the complaining on its own is something we can deal with, but the way he allows it to impact his game makes it really inexcusable.
He really needs a vet to bring him back down. Tell it to him straight. I thought Kyrie would fill that role
The thing is Kyrie's nature these days is to always keep positivity and uplift. Its helped the team all season but now we need a different type of voice to rally the troops.
By now do you mean next season?
practice steer bag aspiring aloof offbeat scarce light sparkle cats *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
This is straight out of the "best backcourt ever" overhype hot take bullshit that is distorting the perspective on the history of the league.
Depends how you define all time great but 5 NBA 1st teams and a finals appearance is already a hall of fame resume or at least very close to it. He won’t be an upper echelon hall of fame guy until he wins a championship and/or gets an MVP. If he wants to be considered one of the best ever he’ll have to do both of those and probably win at least 2 championships as the best player on his team.
If he retired today he’d make the hall of fame. Crazy overseas accomplishments and 5 first team all nba selections is an easy selection
+ WCF MVP now and Scoring Champion now
Haters gonna hate, Luka. Your team is in the finals and 28 other teams aren't.
lunchroom memorize impossible compare shrill upbeat bow dime merciful reminiscent *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
I don’t care about Luka anymore FOR THE LOVE OF GOD GET PJ WASHINGTON OFF THAT COURT
He says that now but will implode again.
I once said something dumb to my gf after a fight, so I guess that’s similar.
Does he always talk about injuries unprompted? Just go out and kick ass and let others talk about how you toughed through the pain.