Brian Windhorst surprised many people when he claimed Luka Doncic ‘might be a difficult person .’ That could hurt the Dallas Mavericks’ chances of pairing him with another star.
This season, the Mavericks failed to get past the Los Angeles Clippers in the 2021 playoffs. He hasn’t meshed with Kristaps Porzingis, as the Latvian big man struggled to find his touch this season.
With the Mavs looking to add more firepower to the roster, Windhorst said that some players would avoid going to Dallas given Luka’s personality.
“I don’t know how many people are going to be excited to play with Luka (Doncic). I think Luka is, maybe, a difficult person,” Windhorst said. “He’s a great player but when you watch the Mavericks play, he’s barking at the coach, he’s barking at his teammates, he’s barking at the officials. He’s always barking about something. He can really be an irritable guy.”
Doncic’s dad, Sasa, responded to these remarks, joking about Windhorst being a ‘basketball genius’ for making those claims, but clarifying he didn’t hear any of that so it was hard to comment. Still, he defended his son and praised all the things he’s done in the NBA so far.
Via Basket News:
Interestingly, in the United States, everybody is questioning Luka’s leadership with the Dallas Mavericks. For example, famous ESPN journalist Brian Windhorst mentioned that he’s not sure how many people would be excited to play with Luka. He described him as a ‘maybe difficult person.’ How do you feel about these comments as a dad and as a person who knows Luka very well?
– I don’t know. Maybe this journalist is probably the biggest basketball genius. So please don’t ask me about it (laughs).
I’m telling you, what he is doing in the NBA is more than great. I’m talking as a basketball fan. As a father, I’m very proud of him. He’s not afraid of anybody. He has this heart and guts to compare with everybody. What he’s doing at 22 years old in the NBA, as a European player, I think, nobody does this.
Actually, I didn’t hear it (remarks about Luka’s leadership in Dallas), so I don’t know how to comment on it.
Great as he was during the 2020/21 season, Luka earned a lot of criticism for his antics on the court. NBA fans and analysts called him a ‘whiner’ for complaining about every single thing every game.
His attitude towards the referees didn’t sit well with the rest of the league, either. The Slovenian player said he’d work on that but not much changed after that ‘promise.’
Still, who wouldn’t like to join forces with this guy? He’s getting better every season and the Mavericks have been linked with big names this offseason, including 2x NBA champion Kawhi Leonard, as well as former Toronto Raptors duo Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan.
As complicated as he can be, there’s no doubt that many people would like to play alongside Doncic and do something great in Dallas.
