Kendrick Perkins, Stephen A. Smith blast Luka Doncic after Game 3 performance
"He wet the bed at the crib."
The hits keep on coming for Mavericks star Luka Doncic.
The 25-year-old guard became a conduit of criticism for his performance in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, with the talented scorer fouling out in the fourth quarter as Dallas tried to orchestrate a comeback in crunch time against the Celtics.
Not only did Doncic put his team in a brutal spot by fouling out (including four fouls in the fourth), he also questioned the officiating in his postgame press conference, rather than taking accountability for his own undisciplined play.
“I mean, I don’t know. We couldn’t play physical so, I don’t know. I don’t want to say nothing but [a] sixth foul in the NBA Finals when I basically am like this?” Doncic told reporters, motioning as if he had been standing still. “Come on, man, better than that.”
Doncic’s play and his postgame comments prompted ESPN NBA insider Brian Windhorst to call his performance “unacceptable,” adding that “the fact that he came out after the game and blamed the officials showed me he’s nowhere close yet.”
Windhorst was far from the only ESPN media personality to eviscerate Doncic and his comments after Boston’s 106-99 win — which gave the Celtics a commanding 3-0 series lead.
Considering how much criticism that former Boston big man Kendrick Perkins has lobbed the Celtics’ way over the last few seasons, you know Doncic has put himself in a rough spot when Perkins is the one taking him to task.
“Let’s cut the (expletive) bull (expletive). … We looking at the Dallas side of things: Kyrie Irving showed up and did was he was supposed to do,” Perkins said on the “Road Trippin’” podcast on Wednesday night. “Ain’t no other way around it: Luka (expletive) off the game.
“He drained his team emotionally, even (Mavs head coach Jason Kidd). It started from the tip, the complaining every damn possession down, the falling on the floor, not getting back in transition, not making a second effort. He didn’t box out one time.”
Much like Windhorst, Perkins stressed that Doncic was focused on the wrong things during Wednesday’s game — even before he directed most of his frustration toward the officiating crew.
“It was a timeout, he’s yelling at his teammate, and his teammate was nowhere involved in the play,” Perkins said. “Who are you mad at it? The bull(expletive) fouls. That was not a charge. Why even put yourself in that position? He tapped out.
“By far, the worst performance I’ve seen from Luka in the playoffs. Lack of energy, lack of leadership, emotions wasn’t there. He wet the bed at the crib.”
On Thursday, ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith joined in on the roast of Doncic during “First Take”, with Smith calling for the Celtics to finish the sweep on Friday night in Dallas.
“It was because of the level of selfishness and the lack of accountability,” Smith said of Doncic’s performance on Wednesday. You are the superstar of the team. You’re supposed to be the leader of the team. Let’s put y’all in its proper perspective. We sit here with Kyrie Irving being seen as the reasonable one.
“The level-headed individual that needs to help and assist in reeling in Luka Doncic because Luka Doncic is so petulant and so petty. Let’s not forget he’s screaming at his bench and screaming at his coaches, ‘F–ing challenge the call.’ We saw that. He’s pointing the figure at everybody but himself, and he takes himself out of the game.”
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