Tatum got criticized like crazy when he lost in the finals and it was warranted because he stunk offensively. Luka lost in his first appearance and he was a major liability on defense so it's also warranted. Not to mention the amount of crying he does to the refs.
@@blablablaa14 strong take, but I’d disagree bc Luka isn’t distracted like Zion nor is Luka outright OPTING to sit out games. I can see how the two of them suffer from the conditioning problem though
@@darkelzsmith3564 he plays defense go watch bro literally thinking about game 3 lol he leads in steals and all type of defense categories so he has to play defense stop with the goofy narratives.. he literally top 3 playmaker in the whole NBA arguably the best so you either don’t know ball or an idiot or both , I think both 👍🏾
Please, Luka didn’t help himself throughout the series. He should learn how to play defense. He played none. Boston targeted him constantly. You’re focused on what he did offensively ONLY. He’s been all NBA five years in a row and has also been one of, if not the worst defensive player in the league. Bring back defense and players like Luka will be seen as just average. This is the NBA finals not the Euro league finals. DEFENSE MATTERS!!!
How do you help a dude that was 58% from the free throw line, turned the ball over 23 times, had 1 assist in game 1, played defense so bad that even the announcers couldn't help noticing it, and has no impact on the game away from the ball ever. No one could help that MF win a championship. Not even the guy who helped Lebron. If he doesn't lose weight, his knees and ankles are going to be putty in 3 years. But keep enabling him, and he's never win a ring. It was the worst finals performance I've ever seen from a superstar. The dude didn't belong in a finals and by game 2, it looked like even he knew it. If he wants to win, he's got to condition, get better on defense, and learn how to keep cool under pressure. He acted like a baby the whole series, it was pathetic.
@@Malundochoker messi would have never achieved success with RMA Just look at him in barca without xavi-iniesta in UCL for almost a decade Glad they didn't signed that choker
As a loyal and passionate Celtics fan, I can admit Luka was the best player on the floor in these NBA Finals - even with his subpar defense. Mavs lost this series because Luka got little help from Kyrie or any of the other Mavs supporting cast.
He shot 58% from the line. He turned the ball over 23 times. He was half a player, playing only on the offensive end. His finals averages went down 4 points, 4 assists, and 1 rebound from his regular season averages, and he had a negative impact on the game away from the ball, it was like watching someone who only conditioned to play horse on the offensive end. His turnovers and bad defense alone gave up 10 more points than he scored. He was not the best player out there. The best player out there wouldn't have turned the ball over that many times, got shut down on assists in game 1, or missed 42% of his free throw shots - in a finals. The defense and turnovers alone cancels out any shots he hurls up. I was shocked at just how horrible he is. Nothing could win a real finals series with that dope out there, even the guy who won with Lebron. He spent more time at half-court tattle-telling to referees than he did playing basketball. He's also grossly overweight and obviously doesn't have the mental capacity to play championship basketball. It was one of the worst finals performance I've ever seen from a supposedly elite player. Even he looked like he knew he didn't belong out there.
his reps tarnished severely = now every team knows how to beat him = do you think EVERY team in the NBA, won't start using that same strategy on Luka?? If Luka doesn't start putting some "effort" into defence, teams are going to embarrass him again, just like BOS just did
@DaFactsNoNonsense1713 u think this is the first year people have said this about luka on defense? It's been said his whole career especially a few years ago against the suns and he still beat them too
@@anthonypalo8191Look at how much Klay is getting paid I'm a GSW Fan but he is hard to watch this days esp when he is Flexing the 4 rings while losing Big
@@naveedthalappil7976 The thing is that Windy thinks Messi played for Real Madrid (he mantioned it like 2 weeks ago that Luka grew up watching Messi lmao) ;)
Brian is also a clown, saying Luka has had this problem for a decade...he was a winner overseas, so what the hell is the point of bringing that up?! And he hasn't been in the NBA for a decade. The hate is real.
You’re not listening, he never said Luka wasn’t a winner or that it’s necessarily stops him from being great, he’s saying that his complaining to the refs habit has always been a problem no matter where he’s been. And that’s true.
His play in the finals was a disgrace. He's 25 years old and looked like a 40 year-old man out there about to have a stroke. He padded his stats with horse-like shots from everywhere, but no one mentions the 23 turnovers that gave up so many points or the 58% from the free throw line that tanked them, or the fact that he had 1 assist in game 1, and played the most shameful defense I've ever seen in a finals. There were times when he just stood there watching the game waiting to get back on offense to grab points. Whined, pouted, acted like a child. Even if he had 100 points, I wouldn't ever want to see that kind of play in a championship again. Even Kyrie couldn't help this guy get a ring. Either get him in shape or get used to pain.
He is a 6'7 James Harden from Houston. They both went to one finals and 2 conference finals. CP3 injury held him back. Both ball dominate and dribble the air out the ball. They play slo mo ball and shoot step back 3s. They both throw lobs and 3 point assist.
Kyrie losing in NBA Finals had no impact on his legacy His legacy was hurt when he refused to get vaccinated Unless you know what you're talking about just shut up
@@MangoTroubles-007 "His legacy was hurt when he refused to get vaccinated".... this is one of the dumbest thing I have heard in my life... Everyone knows Kyrie's legacy has been hurt by the way he left the teams he played on...
Imagine calling a dude that plays throughout the year, out of shape. Why? Because his play style is slow? Body type not like Lebron? Can't question his work ethic. Took a team that no one except Legler picked to go to the finals. Just one playoff loss was enough to tarnish him. Its not even like he choked. Dude averaged 30 and almost had a triple double every other game while looking like he was transitioning into The Mummy.
Yeah lukas overall attitude and his conditioning being way outta shape are the only thing holding him back from being an absolute legend i cant wait to see what the future holds for him
Until he can at least half way stay in front of his man on defense he will always come up short. Never seen a guy everyone claims to be the best player get picked on on defense like he did the whole playoffs. Hell they have to make up stats to even try and say he is a good defender, the eyes dont lie, bro is a one way player.
Luka reached the finals with an average team and lost to a celtics superteam. Great season. WCF mvp and averages a 30pt triple double in the playoffs for his CAREER. The man led the playoffs in total points, assists, rebounds, steals and more... There's only one player in the world better than Luka. That's Jokic btw.
Luka did more than expected, but as a Mavs fan, for me his attitude throughout the games are a turnoff, trashtalking while he's up and complaining all the time when he's down, he gotta work on that and stop being crass
As the biggest Luka fan from Slovenia they are right - all that's missing is him getting in proper shape. There are stories of his awful drinking/eating habits all over the place. It's time Luka. Then he'd be unstoppable
@@hindolbanerjee42 u have to be a casual to not understand that. Boston literally attacked him every chance they could and got open looks every time because of it. Defense is literally HALF the game and Luka had the Mavs out there 4v5 the whole time 🤷🏽♂️ truth can hurt but it’s doesn’t change the fact
When Tatum played the 2022 finals banged up and with a fractured wrist on his shooting hand from carrying Celtics in that tough road to the finals..the media tore him apart. Now they are acting sentimental on Luka🤦🏾♂️
When Luka wins, the opposite team has no defense. When Luka loses, it’s Luka’s defense. Gotcha. Stephen A show me who won their first championship in their first appearance at age 25? Only one, D Wade at 24. Even Lebron won at 28, MJ won at 28.
@@DaFactsNoNonsense1713Luka is only 25 he made finals in stacked western conference despite being underdog in every series. He's the best player in the league and will win multiple championships sooner than later
@@arthasmenethil4297harden doesn’t score at all three levels, can’t score going to his right, is far less efficient at the rim and midrange, and isn’t in the same stratosphere as a passer as Luka. Harden became a leading scorer by learning how to hook defender’s arms and draw 20 FTA/ game.
Wdym,Luka was great in these finals other than the defensive end at game 3. From the offensive end aka what he’s known for, he was elite. He has to just get in shape. Kyrie is a different case tho…….:
I get the whole “if he’s out there injuries aren’t an excuse” but it was clear they bothered him at times. Plus, if he did sit out or play less because of them people would call Luka soft. Let’s also not act like other players who had been hitting threes previously didn’t go 1-12 from three in game five, 1-13 in game two, and 0-9 in game one. If just a handful of those are made, those games couldn’t been drastically different (yes Luka shot poorly from three too). I give props to the Celtics and I actually like the players on their team, I just think it’s funny that the guy is dropping 20-30 each game with injuries and people aren’t calling out the role players who missed a million open threes
The Mavs would lose like the Cavs if Luka sat out. I liked Tatum as a person until he just took a shot at all DFW sports fans by mocking Seager’s WS parade speech
In retrospect, Lukas first Finals went down a lot like his first WCF. An unforeseen, magical run that ends with a 4-1 loss to a clearly better & hungrier team. Mavs as a whole just weren't ready for what the moment required. Now they will buy in and get better or implode.
Yall not holding Luka accountable will be his downfall. He's NOT a leader at all. Playing with a dude like Luka can be exhausting cuzz he gets all the praise and no blame. He's the new James Harden, plain & simple. Thinks he's too good at what he does to add another dimension to his game.
another person who puts comments out here but has nothing really to say. so I tell you what why don't you try out for a real basketball team. then come back an tell us how it went for you
It didn't tarnish his legacy, but it did shine light on his weaknesses. For as dominant as he is on the offensive side of the ball, he does have a lot of work to do on the other side.
His image took a hit, for sure. But it’s basketball, it happens to everyone. Luka needs to get in the lab, work on his weak areas. That’s what all the greats do.
Bro, are you crazy??? Did you watched all the time different play off, different finals??? Because I saw Luka having his best season of his career, averaging nearly 34 points triple double in regular season, being the best player from Mavs in first round, 2md round, finals and espe6in conference finals. He was the only reason why Dallas didn't lost every game by 50. I mean what the hell...
@@NotPremee that's different story. The point is, since beggining of this season to the end, Luka was always the best player for the Mavs. And if this man wasn't on that team, they are not making to the play offs.
But when it counted, Luka was a no-show. Defense wins championship, not matador defense, he's not in Spain. No more beer drinking Luka. Discipline your body and mind, championships will follow. @hristijandimitrovski8664
This is embarassing for the Wolves. It demonstrates how bad their coaching was in that series. Luka did all of the sudden become a terrible defender. The Wolves, in one of the worst coaching blunders you'll ever see, allowed Luka to stand on defense and do absolutely nothing the entire game and he cooked them for it. Absolutely embarrassing. I'd say Chris Finch deserves to be fired after this series more so than after the Wolves and Mavs series, because Boston exposed just how bad of a defensive liability that Luka is and how the Wolves could have exploited it. The Wolves would have given Boston a much better series.
The Celtics jumped on Luka when he was face down on the floor, injuring his rib cage in game one. That happened to me (albeit by a much smaller person) and I couldn’t twist my torso for three weeks. It hurt to breath
@@CH-xt4cr Luka was in elite shape this year. He scored the most points minus free throws in NBA history since the 1972 merger. Then he led the team past three teams that were supposed to be both bad matchups for the Mavs and better than the Mavs. He played great defense on ball until he got body slammed on the floor in the first game of the finals.
@@mikemcc8315 He literally gained weight during the season and usually camps out on defense whenever possible. Points are easy, offensive is easy. Defensive is where effort and energy is required. The guy stores up all of his energy for offense. And the way he plays offensive is not by exerting a lot of energy he has a very slow, calculated, style.
he'd play better defence + be able to stay in the game longer = once Luka gets tired, he instantly starts playing "sloppy" defence, which instantly hurts his team = you have never seen any player, in the history of the "NBA Finals", get BLOWN by, so often before = Luka was a severe liability on the court, on defence = we all watched it happen
I think it's more of an issue what the fact but he can't play off the ball, make backdoor cuts and stuff that's going to be his downfall this guy's just like James harden people act like he's something we've never seen. He literally is James harden 2.0
@@purplesky4157James harden almost beat the KD warriors, Luka got swept by an old warriors without KD, stop it casual at least say something that’s debatable 😂
You know he's the best because you replace him with any team's best player and they would be much better. The Celtics simply had the better team, it was basically 12 v 7 at best
I think Luka knew he could outplay anybody in the nba but he realized there’s another level once he reached the finals. I think he is serious now and will come back in better shape.
@@daniellink8416 Says that great teams on both sides of the ball make good champions. Says that the Celtics are World Champions. ☘️🏆☘️ And it says that you’re just simply a hater. And we love that.
right I'm a hater because you can't come up with a good response to my opinion of your so called super stars. good job you want a cookie for a dumb come back
Before 2018 draft Stephen A Smith already tarnish his image. He refused to vote him or Jokic for MVP. Luka scored 73 points this season and SAS scolded Hawks.
Why the hell are they talking about Luka not being in shape being the issue and not even mention the fact that he brought the Mavs to the finals with all his injuries. You guys are so selective when it comes to destroying someone's image. Luka literally didn't want to make his injuries an excuse in the very clip ya showed, but don't want to discuss the fact that he was playing hurt.
Luka before the Finals: Arguably the best player in the league. Luka after the Finals: Arguably the best player in the league. What are we talking about?
I don't think Luka's conditioning had anything to do with the Mavs losing this series. He was in this same type of shape against the timberwolves, who had one of the best defenses in the league and he dominated them. Mavs lost for 3 primary reasons: The Celtics had a great defensive game plan, Kyrie didn't show up, the rest of the supporting cast wasn't very productive
I do not see how it tarnished his image, but it might’ve exposed his weaknesses. He can only grow from here. He’s still very young. The best thing he could do is to get in shape first like real shape.
It's a mixed bag. Luka's numbers look impressive but the splits to get them were awful. Splits of 47/29/59 averaging 5 turnovers a game is horribly inefficient and the fact he did trust Kyrie to help him speaks of his inability to lead a team.
Look at the numbers he averaged. How did that tarnish his legacy???? Bringing up his conditioning or things he needs to work on is irrelevant to the question.
Shaq was out of shape his ENTIRE carrer. That didn't tarnish his career or how he's seen at all. They say he "could" have been better... But they never use it to tarnish his career.
He's the worst defender I've ever seen make it to an NBA Finals and often stood at half-court watching the Celtics so he could creep back on offense. He was a turnover machine with 23 turnovers across the series and shot 58% from the free throw line. Unlike other superstars, his averages went down during the finals, not up, with his points dropping 4, his assists dropping 4, and his rebounds dropping by 1. He had 1 assist in game 1, 8 turnovers in game 2 (7 in game 5), and played defense so bad in game 3 that even the announcers were shocked to see it in a finals. By game 5, he looked like a 50 year-old man with high blood pressure just struggling to stay on the court. He's out of shape. He's a liability on defense (what good does it do to get 33 points on the offensive end if you give up 14 on turnovers and 20 with bad defense?). And most of all, he had all the heart of a kid anxious to get home and eat more cake. If he wants a ring, he'll have to work on his mental toughness, hustle, and most of all, he'll have to use some of that $40 million salary to get a gym membership and dietician. Most of all, he needs to learn how to fire up his teammates and affect the game away from the ball. It's really nice to hurl up 29 in a game, but even when you don't have the ball in your hands, you have to create shots for your teammates, and he's too slow to do that (think Jordan wrecking the court even away from the ball or Shaq creating diversions for Bryant and vice versa). I can't believe the Mavs made it through the west. They were not even remotely close to the best team in it, and it showed in the finals. I doubt they'll be back next year, and Irving is in decline.
Kudos to Luka getting his team to the finals. Him and his team were just outplayed. 2 stars in his team vs. 7 certified in Boston. Outsmarted by the most Moneyball coach of the league playing total basketball with a stone cold face praising the big guy in the sky. I'm hoping his organisation hunkers down and really goes over the entire finals series with a fine toothed comb and comes up with new strategies to really work themselves into a better position for next year.
Luka led the whole playoffs in total pts,rbnds,asts and this is there best argument about his image possibly being tarnished????? What they should be bringing up is how the role players completely forgot how to play in the finals nobody showed up but Luka not even Ky except for game 3, theres only so much 1 player can do without help
Yea maybe Luka could lose 15 more pounds, maybe put on a little muscle But by no means is his image tarnished. He’s gotten better every year. He takes every criticism and gets better. The league is put on notice. He is going to be even better next year and that’s scary to think
Luka got multiple injuries in the start of playoffs but he kept on playing till the end. Destroying CLIPPERS, OKC, TIMBERWOLVES superstars. Remember they're playing against an INJURED, BEATEN DOWN and a very TIRED man... Give man a credit
No excuses for Luka, he was running around and playing the same as always.. he pushes off all the time on each possession and they never call moving screen on the mavericks at all… Luka gets away with murder all the time and cries foul too much