Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic has been one of the very best players in the NBA for years now, but he has also faced more than his fair share of criticism. Doncic has come under fire for complaining to the officials, not being in shape, not playing defense, and so on, and former NBA player Eddie Johnson brought them up again recently.
In an article for HoopsHype, Johnson praised the talent that is Doncic, but made it clear he doesn’t have the personality of a typical all-time great player.
“Make no mistake: Luka Doncic is the most unguardable player in the NBA. The NBA has been waiting for him to ascend to his rightful place as an MVP and champion. Both scenarios have been hard to come by and all Luka needs to do is look in the mirror. In my opinion, he runs a 24-mile marathon instead of 26.2 miles.
“Luka is so talented that he believes in shortcuts on the floor. That is not the personality for all-time greats. Gaining weight in-season, taking off defensive plays, arguing with officials and taking bad shots because you are tired… They all add up to failure and are the difference in winning what he needs, and that’s an MVP and a championship.”
Doncic is currently in his eighth season in the NBA, and he hasn’t come particularly close to winning MVP. He did finish third in voting in 2024, but only got four first-place votes. Denver Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic took home the award with 79, so the Slovenian wasn’t really in the race.
That remains the only time Doncic finished in the top three, as he isn’t a finalist in 2026 either, despite averages of 33.5 points, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.6 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game. Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, or Victor Wembanyama will be taking home the award for 2025-26.
Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander have both won the award previously, and they’ve tasted ultimate glory as well. The former won the NBA championship in 2023 while the latter did it in 2025.
Doncic doesn’t have a championship to his name, but he came close in 2024. He led the Dallas Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals, where they lost in five games to the Boston Celtics.
Johnson believes Doncic not winning a title or an MVP is down to his bad habits. The six-time All-Star certainly has his flaws, but he has worked on some of them.
Doncic came into this season in the best shape that he had been in for a while and hasn’t really looked overweight at any point. The 27-year-old was also playing solid defense before he went down with a Grade 2 left hamstring strain on April 2.
As for the other two points Johnson brought up, Doncic has always taken these “bad shots.” While that’s not ideal, he is one of the best tough shot makers in the NBA today. He takes them because he can make them.
Lastly, the point about complaining is fair. Doncic needs to cut down on all the arguing he does with the officials. He often is late getting back on defense because he is too busy whining about a no-call, which hurts the Lakers. It’s unlikely Doncic is going to change much at this point in his career, though. This is just who he is.
While Johnson has all these criticisms, he also believes Doncic will be in the top 15 or 20 all-time if he wins the championship this season. It would be quite a feat, but you doubt he’ll be able to pull that off even if he does return from injury.
