Superstar guard Luka Doncic has widely been predicted to go down as one of the greatest players of all time, but Los Angeles Lakers legend Robert Horry is unwilling to crown the Slovenian just yet.
During his appearance on the “Travis & DeMarco Show,” Horry explained why he’d never rank Doncic as a top-5 player of all time, citing his inability to play defense.
“No, Luka would never make that [top-5 players list],” he said. “I love Luka’s game, but I’m old school. You’ve got to be able to play defense for me. I love Luka’s game, but look at guys like MJ [Michael Jordan], Kobe [Bryant], [Hakeem] Olajuwon, [Tim] Duncan, LeBron [James], Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] — all these guys, to me, played on both ends of the court.”
Horry said that, unlike in other sports, he measures greatness in basketball based on a player’s ability to excel on both ends of the floor.
Lack of Defense a Problem
Horry then compared Doncic to James Harden and Stephen Curry, two other generational talents who have never made an All-Defensive Team.
“Don’t get me wrong — you got great players like Steph, Luka, James Harden, they’re great players, but this is my list and I look at basketball totally differently. Everybody says I’m just old school, but no, I want you to be great on defense.
“Think about Kobe and MJ — they were great on the defensive end. That’s why they’re considered the best of all time. Look at LeBron, who’s great defensively. That’s why you jump into that upper echelon, that Mt. Rushmore, when you can do it on both ends.”
To Horry’s point, Doncic was a disaster defensively for the Lakers during their first-round playoff series loss to the Timberwolves earlier this year. Doncic was blown past more than a dozen times in the series-elimination game against Minnesota, as his lackluster defense became a topic of discussion.
Not Impressed by Weight Loss
This isn’t the first instance of Horry throwing shade at Luka Doncic. After the Men’s Health article that detailed Doncic’s weight loss, Horry told the “Dan Patrick Show” that he was unimpressed by the Lakers star’s physical transformation.
“I don’t care about his [Luka] weight,” Horry said.
“You need to get him in a gym and teach him how to play defense. That’s the thing because you can give someone 40, but if you’re giving up 35 on the other end, those 40 points don’t mean anything.”
Horry argued that Doncic could become a good defender if he truly put in the effort, as opposed to the notion that the Slovenian’s lack of athleticism was holding him back.
“It’s about wanting to,” said Horry. “He has never had to, because he’s always had people behind him to erase his mistakes.”
Doncic’s lack of defense was cited as a significant reason the Dallas Mavericks surprisingly moved him to the Lakers ahead of the 2025 NBA trade deadline. Shortly after the trade, Mavs GM Nico Harrison explained why he had no regrets about moving his longtime franchise star, less than a year after he helped them reach the NBA Finals.
“But our philosophy, like I said, going forward is defense wins championships and we’re built on defense. And this trade cements us for that,” he said, via ESPN.
“I’ll say this again: Defense wins championships,” Harrison stressed.
Doncic will have a chance to prove Horry, Harrison and other naysayers wrong in the 2025-26 NBA season. His Lakers enter the season with the seventh-shortest odds to win the NBA championship, per ESPNBet.
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