Luka Doncic has had a barrage of criticism come his way during the 2024 NBA Finals and his former teammate Jalen Brunson has now come to his defense.
“Yes, I think it’s unfair,” Brunson told Taylor Rooks when asked about the criticism. “I don’t want to use the injury (excuse) for him, but he’s banged up. There’s certain times where calls are made in the same situations, that calls are not made.
“Fouls can be subjective,” Brunson continued. “It’s a tough situation to be in. It’s an emotional game. Everyone is expecting, ‘Hey, you’re a grown man, you need to act like one.’ This is an emotional thing, this is what everyone in this league has worked for. An opportunity like that and sometimes, emotions get the best of you.”
Some of the criticism might have been a bit over the top, but I believe a lot of it has been fair. You could give Doncic the injury excuse for his poor defense, but there is no excusing his behavior. The 25-year-old has done a pretty terrible job of controlling his emotions during these games.
Doncic has been constantly complaining to the officials and in Game 3, I thought he lost his head. The five-time All-Star was getting incensed over the officiating and started being a bit too reckless on the court. It culminated with him fouling out in the fourth quarter when the Boston Celtics were only leading 93-90.
I get Brunson’s point about emotions running high, but the best of the best manage to keep their cool, especially when the stakes are so high. Doncic unfortunately did not and the Dallas Mavericks suffered because of it.
The Mavericks had stormed back in that game with a 20-2 run and had the Celtics on the ropes when Doncic fouled out. Without their superstar, though, they had little chance to complete the comeback and lost 106-99 to fall down 3-0.
As for Doncic’s play in the game, he had 27 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, and 1 steal. The Slovenian was a bit inefficient, though, going 11-27 from the field and 1-7 from beyond the arc.
Jalen Brunson Spoke On His Relationship With Luka Doncic
While some former teammates tend to take shots at each other, that isn’t the case when it comes to Brunson and Doncic. They have spoken glowingly about each other since parting ways and Brunson once opened up on his special relationship with Doncic.
“That’s my brother,” Brunson said of Doncic to The Athletic. “We got drafted together. I’ve been watching him grow since meeting him for the first time, seeing the player he is now.
“He’s gotten better and better each year to the point where he’s a top-five player, an MVP candidate, year in and year out, so whenever I get a chance to share the court with him, either with him or against him, it’s always been special. I’ve got nothing but love for him.”
Doncic was the third pick of the 2018 NBA Draft while Brunson was the 33rd pick. They spent the first four seasons of their careers together, after which Brunson left to join the New York Knicks in 2022.
There were no hard feelings whatsoever over that and Doncic even expressed his happiness at seeing Brunson shine in the playoffs this year. It’s great to see the kind of relationship that they still have and you wish they were still teammates.
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