It's important to keep in mind that this isn't a racial thing. White, mixed and black European players are all dominating the NBA now. Europe has better systems for training young basketball players. For example, in Serbia, all players have to learn how to play every position. You'll never see anything like that in America.
I find this funny because ppl call this the “cupcake era” while applauding international players being the best right now. So they are the best in the “softest era” in the nba?
I mean he isn't solely known for that is he...? Lol. Dude was a 3x all star who averaged 25-30 ppg those 3 seasons. Dude dropped 60 on Kobe in LA. Don't need to exaggerate
Until recently, Luka has had a horrible postseason. He's recently been putting up his usual numbers because he's recovered from his injury, which is a great accomplishment all by itself, because playing through a serious injury and recovering from it during a postseason run is almost unheard of. Now that he's healthy, the Mavs have a real shot at winning the title, and I hope they do.
@@SentientTeapot2444for me he isn't recovered, his shoots prove. I'm very anxious about the future season. If Mavs play final, and after Olympics, how will he recover ? He suffers from sprain and tendon, and if he doesn't get out weight and muscle him, it could have very serious injuries. He played high Level since he was 13 years old, and it will beginn to be a big problem.. I cant imagining NBA without him because of his health 😢❤
@@NoahLindenwhat in the hell are you talking about look at Lucas playoff record and his performances he's averaging over 30 in the playoffs for his career he's got more playoff points than 90% of the Hall of famers
Luka is a FIVE TIME All NBA 1st team player. He’s only 25 years old . And these clowns still won’t give this man his flowers. He’s on his way to becoming an All Time Great. Let’s call it what it truly is at this point.
@@JohnMisdreavous Yeah, again Giannis dealt with the same and I might be blind but dude isnt white. It's xenophobia to everything that comes out of Europe and threatens the status of Americans at the top. Else you could explain how a lineup of white reporters talk the exact same about all of them and I doubt they're racist when they're talking down om Giannis. Hell Giannis shouldve been 3rd in the MVP race AT LEAST this year and he wasnt even talked about a bit. That tells you enough. Did someone even promote him as MVP?
@@Herosennin, It is definitely xenophobia. Right now, Luka is the best player in the playoffs (if he was second it would be to Kyrie) and all the media is talking about is Jayson Tatum’s soft choking ass.
Especially when all the Europeans supported the BLM movement fully during the pandemic…it’s disgusting really that nice guys like Joker and Luka are dealing with such overt racism
From who? Who in the NBA is xenophobic? The MVP voters are mostly media members if not all of them. They've voted for a European guy the last 6 times in a row. Debunking hot takes is fine but passing them off as the "current" of the NBA is disingenuous at best.
@TommyDashed...Are you serious? Have you watched 5 minutes of ESPN the last 2 years? Many people agree last year's MVP vote got changed because of Kendrick Perkins bs racial campaign against Joker. That's one example of many I can name. For you to play dumb and act like the NBA media doesn't have an anti-white agenda makes you look foolish.
It's anti white masked as being anti European notice how they never mention anything negative about Wenby but then they've been trying to discredit luka every since he got in the league and it's from all the older players who weren't exactly the best but still had big enough names at the time whereas superstars like iverson and others give him his credit
@tommydashed4205 he's not talking about the legacy media mainly he's talking about individual pundits like arenas and kendrick perkins etc and because they played and have experience they're given a platform to say what they say which most of the time isn't always bad it's more the anti European stances they have come across as petty and not even based in reality, like they'll blame players taking more 3s on Europeans when in actuality it was everyone trying to copy golden state then blames the fact Americans aren't taught the fundamentals because they're all about athleticism on Europeans because they are taught the fundamentals from a young age, basically seeing parts of the game played today that he doesn't like and blaming Europeans when Europeans have nothing to do with the style or what teams are looking for
Gilbert says a buncha crap to get clicks... he's going all-in on his idiocy. Top 5 NBA players today are all "foreign": Luka, Jokic, SGA, Embiid, Giannis. Arenas is just envious of them, that he could never approach their talent and accomplishments.
Luka is the best player left in the playoffs. The fact he gets under looked is crazy to me because he is absolutely dominant. Yes he hasn't been up to par these playoffs, but he has performed in the playoffs usually. I hope he wins the championship this year.
Luka just needed some time to get over his knee injury. To his credit, he was somehow able to do that during a postseason run; I have no idea how he did it. We're probably looking at a Mavs/Celtics final since most of the Nuggets not named Nikola Jokic decided not to show up this postseason.
@@NoahLindenI told my people this the only reason Minnesota beat Denver was because everybody on Denver not named Jokic and Jamal didnt play great in the 2nd round hell even Jamal was inconsistent
Gil Bert is know to people under 40 for 3 things: 1. Being racist against foreigners in the NBA. 2. Bringing a gun to a locker room. 3. Never winning a playoff series. Who cares what he thinks ? He's jealous that Luka is ten times the player he was.
Luka is the centerpiece of the Mavs. I don’t want to hear ppl changing the narrative to OH KYRIE IS SUCH A LEADER 😂😂😂 I love ‘em both but my boy Luka has been insane
Kyrie, being 7 years older is the natural leader, emotionally, as Luka has said repeatedly. You really sound ignorant so I'll trust Luka on this one. Bless your heart.
Kyrie is the leader, Luka is the star. Luka has leadership duties and kyrie has star duties. There's nothing wrong with it. Steph and Draymond had a similar dynamic and won 4 chips
We don't need such debates, the team is really Luka's, but without Kyrie and the others, we wouldn't get anywhere, so it's the most stupid thing to talk about these things. I understand what some of you wanted to say, Luka finally recovered a little from his injuries and finally played like a real leader, but you have to know that Kyrie is a leader in the locker room and that with his experience he teaches Luka how to be a real leader, so we can say, that Kyrie is the leader and there is nothing wrong with a team having two leaders. It should also be known that Luka himself said that Kyrie Irving is a true leader who brought them together and with his experience and influence brought an atmosphere that is important for the team if we want to win the championship and I tell you this as someone who has been a fan of Luka since Luka was 16 years old. We all learn all our lives, and that's how Luka learns to become a great leader, and he draws that role the model from Kyrie, who selflessly gives that energy to him and the whole team, so we don't need stupid debates. Don't get me wrong.
I still don't know why anyone listens to Gilbert Arenas. The guy has the same exact crazy eyes I see on every dude that asks for money outside the gas station.
I would say Jokic has a higher floor and Luka has a higher ceiling. In order to achieve his potential, Luka has to get in better shape and become more emotionally mature. Otherwise, I don't see him becoming an all-time great.
These playoffs are another chance for him to solidify that undeniable respect that comes with deep runs in the playoffs, and the biggest is winning it all like Jokic. Then they can't lie and sweep for their favorites anymore. If it's like Jokic, that might be needed.
It's true, Luka knew how to play defense all the time, but he didn't have enough energy for that, he used all his energy to create offense and score points. Now Luka and Kyrie have assigned each other roles and finally they have enough quality teammates that they can trust and because of this they don't have to spend energy unnecessarily, now they can channel that energy into playing top-notch defense. It's also because all the roll players are capable of playing good defense, especially PJ Washington, Gafford, DJJ and Dereck Lively, which is fantastic.
Other than race, I’m not sure why the European players get so much grief. Some of the European players are REALLY good. Why is that so hard to understand? Perhaps some of the black players pick up on the white fans liking the European players out of proportion to their actual value. We should not be surprised that black/white racial bias surfaces. When I see Kyrie hug Luka I “hear”, “love ya brotha”.
Dirk got same media treatment historic run but espn didn't give much praise most segments was about heatles and lebron turning into the frozen one not the choosen one
Luka's critics are literally pulling the same shit some rappers pull with Eminem when they call him a "guest in HipHop", they can't stand the fact someone they don't identify with is better at the thing they love. It's disgusting to watch honestly.
Whose podcast was that that was screaming they pick euro players last? Wanna know so I can avoid it like the plague. Those guys lend credence to an old saying regarding those that are lacking: If you can't be good, be loud. All bluster, no substance. Pathetic.
This is so easy why fans actually are liking European basketball players 1. No drama, they play basketball that's it 2. Their playstyle is different and fun watch, they're not crazy flashy, athletic, etc just amazing basketball fundamentals 3. Wemby, Luka, jokic, etc all are just really chill dudes
They would roll out the red carpet for them. And that is the reason things are so messed up because one group takes all this disrespect and the other group just gets to act anyway they want like bad kids
The problem with what you just said, is Gilbert arenas has been opened about his racism so you can't interpreted it as criticism, guys like Luka and jokic being good at basketball makes Gilbert arenas feel uncomfortable and insecure, he has been open with his hate about white or white European players.
IRONIC that *_Gil is BLACK_* (meaning with better physique) but cannot defend better than Luka or Jokic or Rudy. Also, as much as i appreciated his game, he didn't achieved MUCH, even individual awards.
Being black doesnt give you a better physique or make you a good defender, athleticism is something you work on just like anything else. Some people like anything else has a leg up due to genetics but this isnt exclusive to being black. This is the same racism that people use against Europeans just in reverse.
I will give Gil credit, for being arguably the best "shoot-first/no passing/no-defense/no-leadership/non-winning/gun-toting" point guard of all time. He lost more games than he won! No one is riding their single 60 point game quite like Gil.
@@peteinthedesert7082 Definitely agree with your 1st sentence. He proudly boasted how he abused 1-4 flat, meaning 1-dimensional and can't do anything other than cooking 1 guy. And he's talking and downplaying European players as if he's way way better.
To be fair, he really only started exerting defensive effort since the trade, and Irving has settled into his leadership role and also starting exerting defensive effort. With the defensive pieces they added , if Luka and Uncle Drew just give effort and play reasonable team defense, they’ll be just fine. I think Kyrie is realizing his basketball mortality and closing window , and is really locking in and embracing his role.
there was the one foul he got that got called so late that wasn’t even debatable the refs weren’t even gonna then they thought about how bad it’d look if they didn’t call
@@gothgrrl8711no, we really don’t, we actually just want people to stop talking about skin color all the time. That being said, with the disproportionate black presence in the NBA media and podcast space, there is obvious bigotry towards white and/or European players. To pretend that you can’t see it is just delusional 😂😂😂
both luka and nikola are decent defenders, no they are not exceptional but if you watch their games often you will see they make attackers miss layups quite often and get the rebounds immediatelly.
That's not true joker plays elite team defense he has incredibly quick hands and reflexes and understands how to disrupt plays and get into passing lanes and he knows how to use his big body he's not at the top of the NBA for on ball defense he's pretty much neutral in that stat but his off ball defense is elite. IQ is good for defense too. Not pure athleticism.
Gilbert is at home screaming like "They dont even have gun rights in europe!!!! How they supposed to bring a strap in the locker room and threaten to clap they teammates?!? That aint the NBA!"
He literally had 15 in the 4th and closed the game while Ant was struggling. He also casually hit the biggest 3 of the game over Ant. I do like Edwards a lot but they’re jumping so quick on the MJ thing, personally I see more Butler / Pistons IT
I'm a casual fan and it was clear to me that Luka was the player who is absolutely necessary for his team to be competitive. I really don't see Dallas winning a playoff game without him. Every other team that had a top 5 candidate looked better equipped to win this year without their top player to me.
Let's cut the narrative, luka is an avarage defender, not a cone and not even a bad one, he still kinda far for bieng a 2way player but he has improved in the last couple of seasons and he step it up in this post season giving even some lock down performances
Adam Silver FOR SURE would not mind seeing dallas in the finals. The more international superstars win, the more international viewers the league gets = more revenue. Same with Kyrie, if he manages do a ”redemption ark”, more people start to tune in when he plays = more revenue. That being said, Twolves winning wouldnt be terrible eighter for the league. Also, eventhough i disagreed on the last point, I enjoy your videos! ✌🏼
Defense is 100% mentality and effort. Luka has always had the mentality to murk a ball handler, but just not the effort on that side of the ball. With Kyrie, he dont need to do it all on offense. Team baby.
They say he's slow, that he's fat, that he doesn't defend. The truth is that he plays at his own pace, without anyone being able to stop him, that he uses his weight to get space, and he has been among the top 10 stealers of the ball and half a block per game. He also vocally leads Dallas' defense, one of the best in the NBA. His numbers are superior to LeBron's at his age. Why isn't he the MVP? I hope he wins the ring so that the narrative about Luka Doncic changes.
Remember Gil played for the Shanghai Sharks. He made it out of the 1st round of the playoffs once in his career then got swept in that 2nd round. And obviously he brought tools into the locker room. This is the man "analyzing" basketball.
I'm just waiting to see how Team USA is destroyed in the court by Europeans this coming Olympics. Have you seen how Kyrie was not included in the team? He is in great shape and showing he still has it and that includes playing great at the defensive end. Why that would be? maybe cuz the Mainstream media wanted him to retire after he left down KD? Or because he went against the injections? Or because he turned down the Knicks? Or saying he has played his harder series, and that wasn't against the Warriors whre the mainstream media gives all the credit to LeFraud not recognizing how big Kyrie was?
I'm a big footie fan as well (I'm Dutch, it's almost inevitable), and these anti-European vibes from NBA commentators feel eerily similar to the 2000s and 2010s when North-American and Asian players started coming through and (more recently) becoming stars (Alphonso Davies, Heung-min Son, Christian Pulisic, Shinji Kagawa etc.). It's the vibe of: "footie is a European/South-American/African thing, what are you doing here in OUR game? WE are supposed to be the stars, not you!" It's reductive and dumb but that sort of commentary has lessened, at least in Europe (no clue about Latin America or Africa). Those kind of vibes feel way stronger (or, at least, are way more amplified) in American sports/basketball media, which is weird. European integration in the NBA has been underway way longer than (East-)Asian and North-American integration in Europe's top footie leagues.
Luka still can't play defense. With that being said, NOBODY plays defense. Gilbert hasn't played defense since NEVER. That dude should definitely keep his mouth shut.
Whenever these former non championship non MVP players talk I think the vast majority of them should not be listened to. They’re takes are completely useless and most of the time they sound like disgruntled employees.
Luka Doncic has more GOAT potential than every other active player. He won the scoring title and is 1st all-NBA five years in a row, and is second only to Michael Jordan in playoff points per game in NBA history, which is huge. And he is only 25.
Adam Silver was really trying to make sure that the Mavericks went to a game 7 in their previous series... But even with terrible reffing Mavs pulled out the win!
Thank you for being one voice of reason amidst all the Euro hate Honestly its obnoxious, and most aren't as bad as Gil, but even Kenny Smith says stupid shit about luka and joker
even if luka average 50 pts 30 rebs & 15 asts and win the championship, them fools will still find a way to criticize him. Simply put, haters gonna hate.
