Robert Horry, the seven-time NBA champion known for his clutch gene and championship IQ, has issued a sobering warning to Luka Doncic: fix your defense, or your offense won’t matter. During his appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Horry shifted the Luka Doncic discourse away from body weight and straight toward what he believes is the real issue: defensive commitment.
“It’s so weird that people talk about his weight, but yet he’s still giving people 30 points. I tell people, I don’t care about his weight. You need to get him in a gym and teach him how to play defense.”
“You know, that’s the thing, because you can give someone 40 points, but if you’re giving up 35 on the other end, those 40 points don’t mean anything.”
“Because it’s about wanting to. You know, he’s never had to because he’s always had people behind him to erase his mistakes. You think about now, there was no AD, no center. Nobody erased his mistakes in L.A.”
“He getting blown by, you know, they’re getting layups. You know, if you watch stretches of games where Luka just stayed in front, because he’s a big body, the offensive players are bouncing off him. You just stay in front.”
“And I think that is the key. And I think also he needs to want to play defense, because so many times he saves his energy for the offensive end.”
“I tell people all the time, if you can move your feet and get past and blow by people, that means you have some fast-twitch muscles. You can move pretty fast. So there’s no reason you cannot play better defense on the other. You just got to want to. And I think a lot of times he doesn’t want to. He’d rather just point.”
The critique mirrors a growing consensus around the league. Doncic, despite being a transcendent offensive weapon, has become a defensive liability that elite teams ruthlessly target.
While his shot-making, playmaking, and footwork continue to dazzle, playoff basketball has a way of exposing weak links and this past postseason, Luka’s defense was the crack in the Lakers’ armor.
In other words, Los Angeles traded away their defensive anchor in Anthony Davis for Doncic, and the consequences were immediate. In the first-round series against the Timberwolves, Minnesota’s guards, especially Anthony Edwards, relentlessly attacked Luka in isolation.
The Wolves identified him as the weak link and used his lack of lateral quickness to generate clean looks at the rim and from deep.
The message from Horry was clear: if Doncic truly wants to take the next step as a superstar, it won’t be through more scoring highlights. It’ll come from sacrifice. Luka’s transformation may already be underway.
This offseason, he’s undergone a serious conditioning overhaul. Reports say he’s slimmed down, modified his diet, and embraced a more rigorous indoor training program. Lakers insiders also suggest he’s taking film study and positional defense more seriously than ever before.
Doncic’s greatness is undeniable, but until he embraces the dirty work on defense, legends like Robert Horry and Gary Payton will keep sounding the alarm. Because in playoff basketball, offense might get you noticed, but defense is what gets you rings.
