Mavericks star Luka Doncic harshly criticized by NBA champion questioning effort | Sporting News

Luka Doncic is often featured in MVP conversations for his generational offensive talent.

The five-time All-Star led the Dallas Mavericks to their first NBA Finals appearance in over a decade, a run many fans and media members viewed as unexpected.

However, some areas of concern have been his conditioning and lack of effort.

Doncic has battled several injuries throughout his career, and it's fair to wonder how his conditioning has played a part in that.

Kendrick Perkins, an NBA champion with the Boston Celtics in 2008, made his thoughts clear on a recent episode of the Road Trippin Show.

We got to stop letting Luka off the hook," Perkins said.

"Real talkenough is enough.

Like, do you know he's leading the league defensively with blowbys? No one is asking him to be Jrue Holiday...

We're asking you to be a leader and put forth some [expletive] effort and fix your body language.

Doncic showed flashes of what he can provide on defense during Dallas' playoff run last season.

He held a combination of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, James Harden, and Norman Powell to 6-of-24 shooting as the primary defender in Game 2 of the Mavericks' 2024 first-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers.

However, his defensive effort hasn't been consistent, and it doesn't help matters when he spends a lot of time complaining to the refs and taking low-percentage 3-point shot attempts.

Doncic has also looked noticeably slow on offense this season.

While Doncic is averaging 28.1 points through his first 14 games, he's shooting just 43.5%, including 32.4% from three-point range.

Those numbers are significantly down from his averages of 33.9 points on 48.7% shooting, including 38.2% from downtown.

For all of the talent that the Slovenian superstar possesses, the only thing that can stop him is himself at times..

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