With just under five minutes left in the first half, the Lakers trail the Celtics by four points. Jake LaRavia has the ball on the left wing, but is clearly surveying Luka Dončić, who is attempting to shake free from a handsy Boston defense on the other side of the court.
With the aid of a Deandre Ayton pick, Dončić does just that, popping open at the top of the key. LaRavia hits his teammate on time and on target and Luka immediately steps into an open three, making sure to not allow his defender
time to get back into the picture.
Right as Dončić releases the ball, LaRavia’s defender — Jaylen Brown — contests the shot and looks to hit Doncic’s hand in a “high five” contest that can sometimes be rewarded as a foul, but often is not. Luka falls down, in what looks to be an attempt to sell the call, but to no avail. Neither the contest nor the potential contact mattered much here, though, as the three-ball swished through the net cleanly.
Dončić is less concerned about the made shot, however, and instead focuses on the non-call. While still on his backside, Luka chastises the referee to his left as the action continues. Wasting no time, the Celtics inbound the ball, race up the court and get a layup.
From one camera angle, it’s clear that Luka does try to get up and scurry upcourt to get back on defense, but it’s too late. Boston got a layup. And the internet got another example of Luka “hurting his team” by “arguing with the referees”.
Or, did he?
The version of the play everyone saw posted online and that was replayed during the broadcast was this angle. That camera angle lingered on Luka while he was on the ground, incredulously arguing with the ref for a whistle that never came. Then came the quick cutaway to Boston players racing up court, beating everyone back in transition for an easy two points.
The camera angle below, however, also shows why the Lakers were actually beat in transition.
Rather than looking at Dončić, I want you to train your eyes on Ayton and LaRavia. Right as Luka releases the ball, Ayton is straddling the three-point line and LaRavia is above the hash mark. Rather than get back in transition for what could be a missed shot, both crash the glass hard, getting all the way to the restricted area.
Jaylen Brown, meanwhile, starts to leak out. At the same time, right as the ball goes through the net, Hugo Gonzalez also turns around and runs up court hard. The result is that when Rui Hachimura — who was in the right corner when Luka’s shot went in and tried to sprint back — ran towards Brown, who ran to the left corner offensively, Gonzalez got a clean lane all the way to the rim.
Yes, he ran by Dončić who was on the ground. But, if LaRavia and Ayton had already been back instead of crashing, there is no layup.
Would Dončić have still looked bad arguing a non-call? Sure, I suppose he would have. But it wouldn’t have been a play that was highlighted countless times over a week’s-long pile on fest that saw Dončić called everything from unwatchable to a player who doesn’t impact winning to someone who doesn’t have good habits and should be ranked below Jalen Brunson and several other players who, all due respect to them, aren’t the caliber of player that Dončić is.
What Luka is experiencing now is a combination of several things that happen to a select number of all-time greats.
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Step one is that you prove to be so good as a player so early that you instantly become one of the most glorified talents in the league. You likely win Rookie of the Year. You are named to All-Star and All-NBA teams. You get MVP buzz. You get commercials and are lavished with almost universal praise. The people who don’t think you’re awesome are kooks who are either biased, dumb, or both, and receive ridicule for their takes.
Step two is that you make good on all this attention by being someone who proves to not only be a regular season monster, but by having postseason success, too. Maybe you win a playoff series you shouldn’t against a better team. Maybe you win two. Maybe in another season you make a run to a conference finals, or, even better, all the way to the actual Finals. You don’t win, but you weren’t supposed to anyway! You’re showered in glory even in defeat. The best is yet to come, and everyone is looking forward to that exact moment when they can all say that they were there from the beginning. Believing in you.
Step three is when things start to shift. You’re now ready to make the next leap and fulfill all the promise steps one and two prescribe to you. You’re not just discussed as someone who can win an MVP, but you’re the preseason favorite to do it. Making a deep playoff run becomes the expectation and a title should be there for the taking when you do make it there.
But then, if you don’t succeed on the tidy timeline set forth for you, you’re no longer the feel-good superstar who everyone loves. Now, you’re the player whose flaws are holding you back. Moreover, your flaws might just be fatal, and everything you’ve done to this point is viewed through the lens of what you have not yet accomplished rather than the previous framing of all you actually did do in what were once called magical seasons. The reasons you didn’t get it done before are actually the same ones why you’re not getting it done now. Hindsight is 20/20.
Maybe all the doubters who were called crazy in previous years had a point. Maybe you’re not good enough. Maybe you’re too selfish, too out of shape. Maybe you’re not clutch, don’t trust your teammates enough. Or maybe you trust them too much. Maybe your jumper isn’t good enough or maybe your jumper is too good and you don’t drive enough. Or, maybe you’re just not good enough. Maybe you never will be.
You then either win and this all goes away, or you don’t and it’s held against you forever. There’s rarely an in-between here. Not for players of a certain class, at least.
It’s the middle of the fourth quarter and Luka Dončić is on the bench. His Lakers are playing without LeBron James against a Pacers team that has been (purposefully?) bad all season but is clearly trying to get a win this night. But that doesn’t matter. Not in the slightest. Not with how Luka has played.
The Lakers are up by over 20 and will go on to win by double digits and Dončić won’t have to play a second in the final frame. His 44 points, nine rebounds, and five assists on 14-25 shooting ensured that and were critical to the outcome.
Because it’s been a talking point of late, before the contest, Rick Carlisle was asked about his former prodigy’s evolution in terms of keeping his emotions in check and his overall competitiveness. Carlisle had some very kind words to say about the player who, within a couple of hours, would go on to demolish his Pacers:
“He’s a fiery competitor. I don’t see that changing. Look, he’s great. He’s the greatest player I’ve ever coached, just in terms of sheer ability. He’ll be an MVP. I gotta be careful, I coached Dirk Nowiztki, you know, who is in the Hall of Fame and 7th on the all-time scoring list. We won a championship together. But Luka, he’s the extra special of the most extra special just in terms of everything he can do on the basketball floor. And he has amazing charisma too. And, you show me a great player who isn’t stubborn and doesn’t get pissed off at things, and I’ll show you a guy who’s not a great player.”
The degree to which this could be a bit of a generous comment from an oft-generous coach to a former player matters less to me than the essence of what Carlisle is actually getting at here. Is Dončić guilty of letting his emotions get the best of him? Definitely. I’d bet if you gave Carlisle the truth serum, he’d say as much and would also tell you how Luka would be wise to tone it down — just like I’m sure he did when he coached him.
But, Carlisle’s point about Luka’s greatness as a player is also spot on.
Luka proved it that night, just like he did a day and a half later when he led his team to a matinee victory over the Knicks. Just like’s done in countless other games this season in leading the Lakers to a 39-25 record, and right in the mix for home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs, all while leading the NBA in scoring and ranking third in assists and ninth in defensive rebounds per game.
This is the sort of thing that, I think, is too often lost when talking about Dončić this season.
Yes, he’s had some low moments. This is inarguable. And, I think it’s also more than fair to say that some of the arguing and antics impact the overall culture of the team in ways that do undercut is great play and his overall leadership of the team.
That said, even in some of those low moments, it can sometimes feel as though our eyes have narrowed their focus and purposefully move to examine the thing we’d prefer to complain about rather than zooming out to see the entirety of all that just happened and all of the great that came along with it.
Kind of like that play against the Celtics where the shot he took went in and others made the actual mistake that gave up the ensuing basket.
But Luka’s complaining was all anybody seemed to see.
You can follow Darius on BlueSky at @forumbluegold and find more of his Lakers coverage on the Laker Film Room Podcast.
