Charles Barkley has come to defense of Dallas star Luka Doncic for the criticism he was subject to following the NBA Finals.
“You see how quickly they turned on Luka in The Finals?, Barkley said on The Bill Simmons podcast. …Luka was the only reason they were in The Finals,” Barkley exclaimed. “And then after Game 1 and Game 2, they’re like ‘Luka can’t play any defense, he’s the reason the Celtics are up 2-0, 3-0.’ I’m like, ‘Wait a minute, he’s the only reason they’re in The Finals.’”
Simmons responded, “I’ll tell you what,” Bill Simmons, a known Celtics fan started, “I was f—ing terrified when he had the ball or took a shot. Like he is a 10 out of 10 when you’re rooting against his team, I’m terrified of him the whole time. I do think he needs to get in better shape on one hand, but on the other hand, maybe this is the right shape for him. Because he’s so f—ing big he can bully-ball everybody.”
To which Barkley replied, “Well, I think he needs to get in better shape but he’s the only reason, no disrespect to Kyrie [Irving], but he’s the reason they were in The Finals, but I love how quick these talking heads turn on these players, because the week before, we were bragging ‘Hey man, this Luka Doncic, is he the next great player in the NBA?’… And then when the Celtics had a much better team go up 3-0, ‘Luka don’t play any defense, he’s the reason’… Y’all went from ‘He’s the second reincarnation of [Larry] Bird and somebody else combined’ but that’s the thing I hate about our business, man. It’s a lot of guys out there that turn quickly.”
Luka sure has a lot to prove this season, if you ask the NBA media.
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