Luka Doncic, Los Angeles Lakers, Luka Doncic called out by Lakers legends for hunting for fouls, James Worthy, Robert Horry, Luka Doncic Dennis Schroder fight, Dennis Schroder three-game suspension, Lakers news
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Despite being the franchise star and league-leading scorer for the Los Angeles Lakers, legends of the team aren't happy with Luka Doncic.
Luka Doncic is the new franchise star for the Los Angeles Lakers, and while he hasn’t yet played a full season for the team, his offensive impact is impossible to deny.
However, not everyone has been a fan of Doncic in his 11-month tenure with the Lakers, specifically a few of their franchise legends. Most recently, three-time Finals winner with Los Angeles, Robert Horry, called out Doncic for what he said was ‘hunting’ for fouls.
“His game is predicated on getting fouls called, and the refs don’t give him a call, he starts hunting even more to try to prove the refs wrong,” Horry said on a recent Spectrum SportsNet broadcast of a Lakers game. ” You’re too good of a basketball player to hunt for fouls.”
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Robert Horry rips Luka for foul baiting
“His game is predicated on getting fouls called, and the refs dont give him a call, he starts hunting even more to try to prove the refs wrong. You’re too good of a basketball player to hunt for fouls.“
On the season, Doncic is averaging a league-leading 12 free-throw attempts per game, 2.1 ahead of Deni Avdija, and 2.8 ahead of the so-called ‘free-throw merchant‘ Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. Doncic is also putting up a league-leading 33.3 points per game, along with eight rebounds and 8.8 assists on 45.8% shooting.
Lakers Legends Call Out Luka Doncic
While his offensive game has been a revelation for the Lakers this season, as seen with the aging LeBron James and the injured Austin Reaves, Doncic has been continuously called out for his play style through the first two and a half months of the NBA season.
Along with Horry’s comments, another Laker legend, five-time champion James Worthy, had similar thoughts on the new star in December.
“I think he’s searching for calls. He’s not getting ’em,” Worthy said last month, according to LakersDaily.com. “Just come out, play a little more aggressive. Don’t look for the fouls. Play the game.”
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James Worthy on Luka’s 35: “It’s funny how Luka can have this type of stat line and then it still not be noticed…because it wasn’t impactful. … It wasn’t a dominant performance. It was a good stat line, but it didn’t really have a phase on the game.”
While Gilgeous-Alexander previously took the brunt of the criticism for hunting fouls in the NBA, Doncic has now come under more scrutiny for trying to go to the foul line. Although he is still a top-tier offensive player, as seen, whohas the ability to lead a team to the postseason, criticism has grown with the Lakers’ recent struggles, including their losses in their last two games and six of their last ten.
The team’s defense remains the bigger issue, but with Reaves out and James back and forthfrom the injury report, Doncic hasheld anoutstretched responsibility for head coach JJ Redick’s team over the past few games.
He most recently fouled out of the Lakers’ loss to the Milwaukee Bucks, a contest in which James was stopped twice in a row by Giannis Antetokounmpo. So, while former players and fans might not love his style and continued efforts to go to the free-throw line, that might be the team’s best chance at winning, for now, at least.
Luka Doncic Involvement In Dennis Schroder Suspension
Aside from his ‘hunting for fouls’ criticism, Doncic has most recently been in the news for the part he played in Dennis Schroder of the Sacramento Kings being handed a three-game suspension by the NBA.
According to ESPN, Schroder was suspended three games for ‘confronting and attempting to strike Luka Doncic after the Kings’ loss to the Lakers in Los Angeles on Dec. 28.’
The two gotin multiple arguments throughout the contest, but reportedly, after the game, in which the Lakers won, Schroder attempted to find Doncic in the tunnels of the Crypto.com Arena long after the final buzzer.
“Forty minutes after the buzzer, Schroder went after Doncic, telling Doncic that he can’t call him a [expletive] on the court and pretend everything is fine off the court. The NBA concluded that Schroder attempted to strike Doncic,” Anthony Slater wrote for ESPN.
Additionally, Lakers center Deandre Ayton reportedly tried to pull Schroder away inhopes of protecting his team’s star guard.
Los Angeles and Sacramento play against each other once again on Monday, but Schroder, for his confrontation with Doncic, will miss the contest, as well as the team’s other two games against the Houston Rockets and New York Knicks.