Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic has faced plenty of criticism over the years for his defense, and FS1’s Colin Cowherd went at him on Monday’s episode of The Herd. Cowherd compared Doncic’s approach to basketball to that of Hall of Famer Carmelo Anthony.
“I’ve said this before about Luka,” Cowherd stated. “When he came to the Lakers. I said, ‘Stop pretending he’s LeBron [James].’ LeBron, Kobe [Bryant], [Michael Jordan] in their prime, [Tim] Duncan in their prime, Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] in his prime, [Larry] Bird in their prime, these guys gave you maximum defensive effort. [Dwyane Wade] in his prime.
“Luka is Carmelo,” Cowherd added. “A better version. He’s never going to be in great shape for any extended period. He’s not interested. Defense is a hobby. Sometimes he’s into it, and then he loses patience or interest.”
Doncic is in better shape than he has been in recent years, but his effort on the defensive end remains inconsistent. There have been times this season when the Slovenian has performed well on that end.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick heaped praise on Doncic for his defense in the 116-110 win over the Dallas Mavericks on Jan. 24. The Mavericks were targeting him down the stretch, but he kept getting stops.
That’s the version of Doncic you want to see, but there have been other instances where he was giving next to no effort on defense. You can maybe get away with inconsistent effort on a team that has a lot of great defenders, but the Lakers aren’t one of them. Jarred Vanderbilt and Marcus Smart are their only good defenders.
As for the Anthony comparison, similar criticisms were levied at him. He wasn’t interested in putting much effort into defending and just wanted to score. Anthony would give some effort on the glass, but that was it.
Doncic does do a whole lot more apart from scoring. The 26-year-old is a triple-double machine and is averaging 33.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 8.8 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game in 2025-26.
This isn’t a perfect comparison from Cowherd, but interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time he has brought it up. Back in April 2024, he said Doncic is Anthony with a three-point shot.
“He’s sort of Carmelo Anthony with a more refined game, better range,” Cowherd said. “I don’t know if I’m getting anything on the other end, I don’t know if his teams will succeed in the playoffs, I don’t know if he’s the greatest teammate, but buckets? This is Melo with a 3-point shot. You’re just going to get a lot of points.”
Well, Doncic did answer questions about postseason success not long after Cowherd made these comments. He took the Mavericks to the NBA Finals, something Anthony never accomplished in his career.
You can certainly win with Doncic, but you need to put the right team around him. He needs defenders and elite athletes with him on the court, which isn’t the case right now.
It’s why these Lakers aren’t viewed as serious title contenders despite having a 29-19 record. They were eliminated in five games by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs in 2025, and it would surprise no one if they suffer an early exit this time around as well. Some moves might change that, but the Feb. 5 trade deadline is almost here. It doesn’t look like any significant move will be made.
We’ll see Doncic and the Lakers in action next against the Brooklyn Nets at Barclays Center on Tuesday at 7:30 PM ET.
