Luka Doncic did not play tonight in Game 3 of the Lakers’ second-round series, and the Thunder ended up taking a commanding 3-0 lead in the series after a 131-108 win for the defending champions at Los Angeles’ Crypto.com Arena.
Even before the game began, WWE Legend Ric Flair seemingly lost faith in his team’s ability to beat the Thunder, despite his major fandom of LeBron James. And he once again went in on Luka Doncic, who had been declared out for this game due to his hamstring injury.
“Luka Doncic, there is only one word that I can possibly say, and that’s DISAPPOINTED. 46 million dollars, and you can’t play. OMG, I would jump off the Empire State Building with a parachute for 46 Million Dollars a year, and I don’t even know how to pull the cord to open it- but I would take my chances,” wrote Ric Flair on X.
The Slovenian star earned $45,999,660 for the 2025-26 season and sacrificed on his player option for 2026-27 to sign a three-year extension with the team earlier this season. Ric Flair feels he is not doing justice to his salary by staying on the sidelines while the Lakers’ season is on the line.
This criticism comes just days after he urged the Lakers to trade Doncic for not playing in Game 1. And he subsequently even said before Game 2 that LeBron James does not need Doncic to win.
“With or without Luka Doncic, I’m so confident that LeBron James will prevail tonight! You can sit on the sidelines or be in the game. WOOOOO!” the WWE legend wrote on X before Game 2.
Clearly, the 77-year-old WWE legend is not a basketball expert, but just a hardcore fan of James and the Lakers, who hates to see his team lose. Flair thought LeBron James could do it on his own in Game 2, but he has clearly struggled to carry the Lakers’ offense in this series, and he is not even getting much help from the others.
LeBron James finished Game 3 with 19 points, eight assists, and six rebounds while going 7-19 from the field (36.8 FG%) and 2-6 from beyond the arc (33.3 3P%). So far, the 41-year-old Lakers veteran is averaging 23.0 points, 6.7 assists, and 4.0 rebounds while shooting 51.9% from the field and 37.5% from beyond the arc.
As great as these numbers are for a player his age, they are clearly not enough to facilitate the team offense. Even James admitted after Game 1 that Doncic’s absence is becoming too big a hole for the team to fill.
But Ric Flair does not understand that an injured player risking his career to be on the floor is not worth it when you look at the big picture risks of ignoring an injury. And who is to say Luka Doncic being on the floor and not being 100% will not make the Thunder target him, and his presence will not do more harm than good?
Therefore, even if the Lakers’ season is on the line, if Doncic, a player who loves basketball so much that he would do anything to be on the floor, and the Lakers’ medical staff do not feel he is ready to play, then we trust them instead of criticizing the superstar like this.
Had this reaction come after the game, I would still understand the frustration that the Lakers’ season (being down 0-3) is near its imminent end, and they need a miracle to save them now.
But if he lost faith in the team’s ability to beat the Thunder, clearly, this shows that you don’t need to be a basketball expert to see that the Lakers have no chance against the defending champions, especially without Doncic.
Ofcourse, the Lakers’ front office will likely not make a decision based on what Ric Flair says but it will definitely be interesting to see if Doncic responds to the WWE legend.
