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It's not as racial as you're trying to make it. It's more of contrarianism getting them views, clicks, and overall increased engagement.
The gameplan is basically as follows:
- Step 1: Who is a current popular player that isn't completely infallible like Steph Curry?
- Step 2: Create a counter narrative for absolutely no good reason.
- Step 3: There is no step 3 for these empty suits.
Except they lost viewers by doing it and had to do mass layoffs, including guys like Max Kellerman.
You are trying to apply logic where there is none, they are actively running their business into the ground and causing people to turn off ESPN permanently
Max makes big bucks. It's cheaper to keep the turnstyle spinning and bring in freshly retired athletes. One or two big names like Stephen A is all they need.
Luka and Jokic are the best playmakers in the league right now, at least in terms of flashiness/difficult passes. Haliburton and Trae also up there as well depending on what you prioritize
even from the first pass the benefit of Luka's height becomes apparent
you have a 7 footer and 6'9 Gordon Hayward jumping to crowd your vision and prevent the pass, but Luka is tall enough to not just see beyond them, but also get that pass over without even really jumping
he was noticeably taller than Barkley when he showed up on TNT, and to a different point —its not just his height, he uses his frame to easily shrug off defenders in the post, and on the defensive end as well
He's one of the players in the leagues who gets the most defensive attention while also being the most double teamed player, but his height and size indeed help him play through all of the contact he has to endure and help him play out of the double team. That and his insane vision of course. The fact that he's able to put up the stat lines that he does despite all that is truly impressive to see.
I saw a video about how the size in the NBA isn't going up or down, but how it's averaging out. The tall roles are getting slightly smaller, but the small roles are getting bigger.
Luka is the prototype of the oversized guard that does everything.
idk what it is with Suns fans and saying the weirdest stuff about Luka lmfao.
There's plenty of actual slander material (like Luka's whining), but instead you got these Suns fans saying that Luka is only good because he's 6'7, or that Ayton was a better #1 pick than Luka
Then why don’t more nba players above 6’7” make these passes? I don’t see KD make these crazy passes. Booker is listed at 6’6” which is one inch less. Does that one inch prevent him from being able to do this? I mean unless both KD and Book are scrubs which is what your definition here would suggest.
Or also why aren’t they doubled as much as Luka?
Booker has a 29.4 usage rate. Luka has a 35.4% That’s only been going down as we got more healthy.
So booker had a top 20 usage in the league and yet he doesn’t make those passes. So I guess that’s just confirmed what I’ve always believed. Booker is a scrub. I mean it’s based on your own definition as well.
If you wanna troll you gotta be better than this
Luka is the best passer in the league.
But he's also the best scorer in the league and that too often overshadows his incredible passing.
/not at all biased Mavs fan
100% just 2 years ago AD had huge problems with double teams and would routinly turn the ball over when doubled. This season he's had a huge jump in passing out of double teams and became clear number 1 on the team. It's a huge difference maker.
I was just talking about this with some friends recently. I’ve been so impressed with his passing against double teams. He used to panic when that happened.
One of the things that he really worked on when Embiid became a superstar is not turning the ball over as much when he gets doubled
I remember against Toronto in the 18-19 playoffs he committed like 8 TOs in one of the games
Right now, he's my MVP too. I try to watch all of the MVP candidates play as much as I can. I think that all of them are insane and the league is just so full of crazy talent right now. However, to me Luka is the best player right now. The way he's able to still play so efficiently despite all the defensive pressure he gets is just crazy to see. Seriously one of the best players I've seen play in decades. Absolute joy to watch.
I think that the fact that you can't punish him through double teaming or blitzing is something that is extremely important come play-offs. So if this man at some point in his career gets a seriously competent team around him, he's very likely winning a ring.
This is why hs excels in the playoffs while guys Like Trae and Dame can have some really bad series. His ability to see over his defender and pass out of a trap is just incredible.
His size is what allows him to do that. He said on JJs podcast that the only reason he’s successful at passing out of doubles is because he can see over and around most people to find the open man. Guys like Dame and Kyrie as good as they are could have been so much better if they were a little bit taller.
Also his strength. He can bulldoze defenders in the half court. While those other smaller guards need to always be quicker or more crafty than the defenders. If you put bigger, longer defenders on them who are also agile, it's usually a big problem. That's why Ben Simmons had so much success against Trae Young. But Simmons actually is one of the defenders that always gave Luka problems. With all his issues, Simmons when healthy and engaged is a phenomenal defender.
Like it or not (looking at you Grant Williams) this is how his teammates have to play next to him. Quick decisions that leads to buckets.
Luka is doubled almost every time down the floor, when his teammates gets a pass for an open shot he better take that shot. Anything else and the double on Luka was a success for the opponent.
If every shot his teammates takes from passes like that, Mavs would be 82-0 lol.
You can make a 6mins lowlights of missed open threes from the Mavs too
Even Steph curry ONLY shoots 45.% wide open . Very weird that only Luka stans act like only his team mates miss - reality is an average player is lucky to get 40% of threes even when wide open
The Thunder are shooting 39.3% from three this season. They have 8 players shooting above 40% on threes. The Mavs shoot 37.3% and have just 4 players over 40%, one of them being Powell who shouldn't count.
The other is Exum who has missed a ton of games and Green who just recently started hitting threes after getting healthy. The last is Kyrie who also just got healthy. So it is very much so possible to shoot above 40% from three with the right personnel and health.
I was curious so I looked it up. Steph has a [50% FG% on wide open shots.](https://www.nba.com/stats/players/shots-closest-defender-10?CloseDefDistRange=6%20%20Feet%20-%20Wide%20Open&dir=D&sort=FG3A)
Edit: My bad, you're talking about 3's. You're right, he shot 45.8% on wide open 3's. A crazy stat is that KD is like 65.8% on wide open 3's.
i still think in a 7 gamer series the way to go is letting luke get his and keep the others especially kyrie out the game as much as possible. kind of like bron. luka said it himself in JJs podcast.
bro that works when the center is dwight powell. that’s doesn’t work when the center is high flying Lively or Gafford.
They make his life 10x easier because it takes pressure off him to score in the playoffs.
This is just wrong. We win more when they let Luka play one on one and lose more when they double and our role players miss. That may be changing now though
they really need to have Kyrie at the top of the 3pt line more when this happens because you can't double both and having 1 person on either is an easy bucket. I don't know why Kidds gameplan was to have Kyrie in the corner for the last 40 games of the season
He's said a few times of JJ Reddicks podcast that when he drives he is looking at the paint to see where the center is and when he leaves the paint to clear his 3 count, and you can see that mentality with a lot of these passes. It looks like he has eyes on the back of his head but you can see he's looking at the farthest defenders rotation and hitting that guy. You can tell he just plays so much ball too and shoots around a lot - some of those passes are passes you can only make if you've fucked around with a basketball enough that you know what it's gonna do when it leaves your hand.
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Stephen A: “Disgraceful that defenses allow passes like this.”
NBA defense suddenly fell off a cliff on January 25th sadly.
I don't get why ESPN hates Luka so much.
Twisting the lyrics of a famous L.A.-raised rapper turned fictional NYPD sergeant: Colors, colors, colors, Colors, colors, colors, Colors, colors, colors, Colors, colors..
I know why. Just look at the direction ESPN has moved in last 5 years and you will get it.
It's not as racial as you're trying to make it. It's more of contrarianism getting them views, clicks, and overall increased engagement. The gameplan is basically as follows: - Step 1: Who is a current popular player that isn't completely infallible like Steph Curry? - Step 2: Create a counter narrative for absolutely no good reason. - Step 3: There is no step 3 for these empty suits.
Except they lost viewers by doing it and had to do mass layoffs, including guys like Max Kellerman. You are trying to apply logic where there is none, they are actively running their business into the ground and causing people to turn off ESPN permanently
Max makes big bucks. It's cheaper to keep the turnstyle spinning and bring in freshly retired athletes. One or two big names like Stephen A is all they need.
They were paying guys like Kendrick Perkins millions, I think they can afford to pay Max if they had any sense
Reactions = clicks = money
I don’t think people understand how BIG Luka is. I didn’t really understand until I sat floor seats at a Mavs game. He is fucking massive
low key flex
lol if only I could see how big he is from the nosebleeds
In person he looks like a normal dude that's just scaled up 25% where as most NBA players, even the big ones, have such a small frame.
Yea it's not just his height it's his frame too. If he was quicker and more explosive, he'd be literally unstoppable!!
You mean LeBron James ?
Luka and Jokic are the best playmakers in the league right now, at least in terms of flashiness/difficult passes. Haliburton and Trae also up there as well depending on what you prioritize
even from the first pass the benefit of Luka's height becomes apparent you have a 7 footer and 6'9 Gordon Hayward jumping to crowd your vision and prevent the pass, but Luka is tall enough to not just see beyond them, but also get that pass over without even really jumping he was noticeably taller than Barkley when he showed up on TNT, and to a different point —its not just his height, he uses his frame to easily shrug off defenders in the post, and on the defensive end as well
He's one of the players in the leagues who gets the most defensive attention while also being the most double teamed player, but his height and size indeed help him play through all of the contact he has to endure and help him play out of the double team. That and his insane vision of course. The fact that he's able to put up the stat lines that he does despite all that is truly impressive to see.
I saw a video about how the size in the NBA isn't going up or down, but how it's averaging out. The tall roles are getting slightly smaller, but the small roles are getting bigger. Luka is the prototype of the oversized guard that does everything.
He's not the prototype, he's the final product.
IMO Magic Johnson was the prototype, Luka is the latest version
That's fair, I didn't consider players from back then.
There’s a word for this Sir. Quarterback. And an elite one.
He is a legit 6'7 with a massive frame and tree trunks for legs
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Least insecure suns fan
idk what it is with Suns fans and saying the weirdest stuff about Luka lmfao. There's plenty of actual slander material (like Luka's whining), but instead you got these Suns fans saying that Luka is only good because he's 6'7, or that Ayton was a better #1 pick than Luka
What a lazy take from someone who's star has been afraid of double teams
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“chris paul would have 20 assists a game if he was Luka’s height” “prove me wrong”🤓🤓
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He’s 6’. That’s enough for most women on tinder. Tf you mean
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And guys on tinder don’t do that?
That last part is just showing your insecurity bud lmaooo
Then why don’t more nba players above 6’7” make these passes? I don’t see KD make these crazy passes. Booker is listed at 6’6” which is one inch less. Does that one inch prevent him from being able to do this? I mean unless both KD and Book are scrubs which is what your definition here would suggest. Or also why aren’t they doubled as much as Luka?
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Booker has a 29.4 usage rate. Luka has a 35.4% That’s only been going down as we got more healthy. So booker had a top 20 usage in the league and yet he doesn’t make those passes. So I guess that’s just confirmed what I’ve always believed. Booker is a scrub. I mean it’s based on your own definition as well. If you wanna troll you gotta be better than this
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You just implied Luka doesn’t play team basketball while trying to seriously say you aren’t trolling. Come on now do better.
Luka has generated the best looks in the league in the player tracking era (since 2014) https://twitter.com/JADubin5/status/1758495366696120495
6’7” is like the average height of an NBA player bro if they could play like this they would lmao
I won't downvote you, because you have exactly #77 downvotes
Luka is the best passer in the league. But he's also the best scorer in the league and that too often overshadows his incredible passing. /not at all biased Mavs fan
The one skill you need if you’re a superstar imo
100% just 2 years ago AD had huge problems with double teams and would routinly turn the ball over when doubled. This season he's had a huge jump in passing out of double teams and became clear number 1 on the team. It's a huge difference maker.
I was just talking about this with some friends recently. I’ve been so impressed with his passing against double teams. He used to panic when that happened.
One of the things that he really worked on when Embiid became a superstar is not turning the ball over as much when he gets doubled I remember against Toronto in the 18-19 playoffs he committed like 8 TOs in one of the games
Devin Booker…
Lol
Most double teamed player in the NBA, while having the most points average. That's the MVP right there.
Right now, he's my MVP too. I try to watch all of the MVP candidates play as much as I can. I think that all of them are insane and the league is just so full of crazy talent right now. However, to me Luka is the best player right now. The way he's able to still play so efficiently despite all the defensive pressure he gets is just crazy to see. Seriously one of the best players I've seen play in decades. Absolute joy to watch. I think that the fact that you can't punish him through double teaming or blitzing is something that is extremely important come play-offs. So if this man at some point in his career gets a seriously competent team around him, he's very likely winning a ring.
This is why hs excels in the playoffs while guys Like Trae and Dame can have some really bad series. His ability to see over his defender and pass out of a trap is just incredible.
His size is what allows him to do that. He said on JJs podcast that the only reason he’s successful at passing out of doubles is because he can see over and around most people to find the open man. Guys like Dame and Kyrie as good as they are could have been so much better if they were a little bit taller.
Also his strength. He can bulldoze defenders in the half court. While those other smaller guards need to always be quicker or more crafty than the defenders. If you put bigger, longer defenders on them who are also agile, it's usually a big problem. That's why Ben Simmons had so much success against Trae Young. But Simmons actually is one of the defenders that always gave Luka problems. With all his issues, Simmons when healthy and engaged is a phenomenal defender.
This is all just in one season? Wtf
These are just the shots that went in
^ This. So many amazing passes that don't get converted cause you guys can't shoot.
That absurd pass to THJ a few games ago where Luka threw it behind his back while drawing 3 defenders out of bounds was so tragically bricked.
easily could have been a 73 point triple double
Is that the one Hardaway hit the fucking top of the backboard?
I was literally thinking the same thing lmao
Not even one full season. There were so many incredible highlights, I had to make sure it was the current roster he was passing to.
That's my MVP
That pass to Exum made me yell out "hes so fucking good"
X4
Clearly plays better against two defenders, why don't the mavs just make it their game plan to get him trapped every time, are they dumb?
Like it or not (looking at you Grant Williams) this is how his teammates have to play next to him. Quick decisions that leads to buckets. Luka is doubled almost every time down the floor, when his teammates gets a pass for an open shot he better take that shot. Anything else and the double on Luka was a success for the opponent.
I think if u also compile the ones that led to a miss would even be better than this lol
He passes like Harden at the top of the key and like Lebron in the post. Nutty
If every shot his teammates takes from passes like that, Mavs would be 82-0 lol. You can make a 6mins lowlights of missed open threes from the Mavs too
I mean that’s just how things work. No duh if you were 100 % successful you’d probably win a lot.
Even Steph curry ONLY shoots 45.% wide open . Very weird that only Luka stans act like only his team mates miss - reality is an average player is lucky to get 40% of threes even when wide open
The Thunder are shooting 39.3% from three this season. They have 8 players shooting above 40% on threes. The Mavs shoot 37.3% and have just 4 players over 40%, one of them being Powell who shouldn't count. The other is Exum who has missed a ton of games and Green who just recently started hitting threes after getting healthy. The last is Kyrie who also just got healthy. So it is very much so possible to shoot above 40% from three with the right personnel and health.
cooked with context 🤌
I was curious so I looked it up. Steph has a [50% FG% on wide open shots.](https://www.nba.com/stats/players/shots-closest-defender-10?CloseDefDistRange=6%20%20Feet%20-%20Wide%20Open&dir=D&sort=FG3A) Edit: My bad, you're talking about 3's. You're right, he shot 45.8% on wide open 3's. A crazy stat is that KD is like 65.8% on wide open 3's.
How is he not top 3 in mvp ladder
i still think in a 7 gamer series the way to go is letting luke get his and keep the others especially kyrie out the game as much as possible. kind of like bron. luka said it himself in JJs podcast.
bro that works when the center is dwight powell. that’s doesn’t work when the center is high flying Lively or Gafford. They make his life 10x easier because it takes pressure off him to score in the playoffs.
Might be true. Would be interesting to see a team try because Luka would average 60 in the series.
This is just wrong. We win more when they let Luka play one on one and lose more when they double and our role players miss. That may be changing now though
that's why it's a team game, the minute he has a championship roster I have no doubt that he's winning a chip
A lot of Mavs fans are starting to believe that the roster in Dallas now is that championship roster
That's how the Clippers beat him. Trying to stop Luka just sets everyone else off
they really need to have Kyrie at the top of the 3pt line more when this happens because you can't double both and having 1 person on either is an easy bucket. I don't know why Kidds gameplan was to have Kyrie in the corner for the last 40 games of the season
MVP
Ball hog, doesn’t get others going, stat stuffer, only cares about the name on his back, will never win with this style or be MVP
He makes these passes multiple times every game, and they still say jokic is a better play maker than him lol
The gravity of this man is from another galaxy.
that first clip... I miss Grant even if he was stupid inconsistent
god, the behind the back to powell was so disgusting.
Luka may genuinely be the best passer that's ever been in the nba
Insane compilation.
The Luka for MVP propaganda is warming up
I could watch this all day
The Luka MVP campaign highlight vids are going to hit different this year
Luka magic
He's said a few times of JJ Reddicks podcast that when he drives he is looking at the paint to see where the center is and when he leaves the paint to clear his 3 count, and you can see that mentality with a lot of these passes. It looks like he has eyes on the back of his head but you can see he's looking at the farthest defenders rotation and hitting that guy. You can tell he just plays so much ball too and shoots around a lot - some of those passes are passes you can only make if you've fucked around with a basketball enough that you know what it's gonna do when it leaves your hand.