For as great an offensive player as Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic has been ever since he set foot in the NBA, he has been on the receiving end of criticism throughout his career for his play on the other end of the floor.
The fact that Doncic averaged 1.8 steals per game with the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks during the 2024-25 regular season doesn’t change that he has plenty of room for improvement on defense.
For example, he had a very difficult time sticking with forward Jaden McDaniels in the Lakers’ series against the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
McDaniels had an effective field goal percentage of 68.8 percent when guarded by Doncic over the course of the best-of-seven series, and that was tied for the second-most efficient one-on-one matchup in the opening round of the playoffs.
Most efficient offensive matchups in round 1…
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Former NBA star Paul Pierce criticized Doncic’s defensive chops recently, but he doesn’t think the Slovenian’s ineptness on that end has anything to do with his weight. Rather, he hinted that his attitude while playing defense needs to be changed.
“I don’t know, Joy [Taylor],” Pierce said when asked if Lakers fans should be excited to see a slimmed-down Doncic. “The guy averages 30. He averages 30, eight and eight, and y’all talking about his weight. Let’s talk about his mentality on defense ’cause I figure that’s the issue.”
Pierce continued.
“No, that’s a mentality,” he said. “Defense is a mentality. Rebounding and the effort stuff is hustle mentality. It has nothing to do with his weight because as far as his production, he’s one of the most productive players, been First Team All-NBA every single year. So, don’t make this a weight thing and try to throw us off the subject. He need to learn how to play some damn defense and not get isolated and picked on. That’s the issue with him, not his weight.”
The opening round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs didn’t mark the first instance of Doncic getting exposed on the defensive side of the ball with a lot at stake. The Boston Celtics picked on him in the 2024 NBA Finals and had a lot of success doing so, as they won the championship series against him and the Mavericks in five games.
On the bright side, Doncic is just 26 years old, and he still has plenty of time to figure out how to better himself as a defensive player. Even Doncic’s best basketball on the offensive end might still be yet to come.
Hopefully, at the top of Doncic’s agenda this offseason is to improve as a defender prior to starting his second season playing for the storied Lakers franchise.
If he can become a more consistent player on that end, that would only raise the Lakers’ ceiling next season as they hope to compete for a championship with Doncic and forward LeBron James running the show.