The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a brutal loss to the Detroit Pistons as they hope to stay relevant without Austin Reaves. Luka Doncic had a strong offensive night with 30 points, but his defense continued to fall short as a glaring weakness. Detroit scored 128 points to dominate the Lakers lackluster defense in decisive victory.
NBC commentator Reggie Miller criticized Luka in real time during a specific play when Doncic refused to help his teammate:
“Look at Luka right here. It’s OK, Luka, to move your feet a little bit over and help out. What does he do? He just throws up his hands. This would be frustrating for me.”
Doncic was criticized for both playing weak defense and for showing up his teammate Jake LaRavia by putting his hands in the air at his mistake. The short-handed Lakers need all the help they can get with Reaves and Rui Hachimura missing time due to their respective injuries. Luka clearly giving up on defensive plays and not helping his limited teammates look even worse right now.
Why Reggie Miller Criticized Luka Doncic
Miller had a respected NBA career as the most popular choice for the greatest Indiana Pacers player of all-time. Offense was Miller’s strong suit as the Pacers top scorer, but he was considered a scrappy defender that gave his all on both ends. Previous eras saw the top scorers typically tasked with at least playing average defense.
Doncic not even trying makes legends like Reggie have some rare criticism for him. No one is criticizing Luka for his offense since he’s a superb scorer and a great passer to help his teammates on that side of the court. However, the defensive woes have made Doncic’s flaws become part of the conversation around his game.
Miller and other players tasked with being the leader of franchises took on the responsibility of leading by example. Luka not working hard on the defensive side and visibly blaming his teammates can be considered weak leadership. The Lakers clearly need Doncic to be a better leader as the best player, especially with LeBron James no longer able to dominate consistently at his older age.
Luka Doncic Must Lead The Lakers
The Western Conference is stacked this year with many great teams believing they can contend for an NBA Championship. Los Angeles had a spectacular start to the season to give fans hope of contending for a title. A top four seed for most of the season sees them falling to fifth with recent struggles.
Injuries will make it harder to keep pace with the other teams. Doncic having an MVP level season is the only way the Lakers can keep up with teams like the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets and Minnesota Timberwolves in the middle of the pack seeding battle.
Miller’s words hold credence since it represents how far the Lakers can go. Doncic must dominate on offense and at least give more effort to help contribute to better team defense. Lakers fans are starting to get upset with Luka’s effort as the season is enduring strong adversity.
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