Luka PR this season is horrible lmao

What really pisses me off about it is he’s one of the most entertaining guys in the league when he puts his head down and decides to kill

luka needs to go to that therapy camp that ja and draymond went too, worked wonders

This is just the endgame of behaviour that the sport’s rules encourages.

He’s 100 percent right.

Watching that Celtics game was awful. At one point (and I think this is the play drawing the most ire) he made a basket and turned as though he was sprinting back on defense (which we badly needed) except he ran to the sideline and ran with the ref down the court (during the possession) complaining about the call.

It legitimately looked like he was D’d up full court and the ref on the sideline was his man.

He’s extremely talented obviously, calls were pretty rough and they missed a half dozen free throws atleast for him, but there is zero excuse for any player at any level of basketball to be that disengaged from the action on the court to shout at the ref. It doesn’t give him more calls, and it absolutely kills the team on defense.

Him standing still as a cone is significantly more valuable to defense than him guarding the ref on the sideline COMPLETELY out of the game.

Fuck that shit

Bro takes the most free throws per game in the league by a WIDE margin, and STILL has the audacity to be the biggest bitch in the league.

I have no idea how Luka fans are a thing.

Kinda weird that every single media outlet has been on Luka’s ass this week lol, I mean it’s not like anyone expected much from the Lakers anyways.

I do think if Luka just did all of his complaining during dead-balls, it wouldn’t be as big of a problem. The issue is when he starts barking at the refs instead of running back on defense.

Honestly, I think he complained more in Dallas. People just weren’t paying much attention.

I loved when Walt Clyde Frazier called him the biggest crybaby in the NBA.

As a Mavs fan of 25 years trust me Luka doesn’t give a shit and all this negative pr this week won’t change a damn thing😂

I really don’t know why so many podcasts suddenly going on Luka all of a sudden, in recent week.

It’s heightened now he’s on the Lakers 

“if he’s complaining to the refs, how is he back on defense ?”

      - Anonymous GM

Cool, now do an analysis of Deni complaining!

We will take him back if the whining is too much.

standard Overwatch player behavior

I don’t know why we keep talking about it like it’s ever going to change. This is who he is. He’s been like this for years.

Luka included but many players in the NBA absoltuely do shoot to draw a foul now instead of shooting to make the shot and it’s frustrating to watch. I’m not blaming the players because if it works then why not keep doing it but it’s just a weird way to play offense now.

Love how they all kill Luka for it all the time but praise Jokic when he does it saying he deserves those calls. In debates about that they are just embarrassing most of the time

I have a feeling were going to see this everytime a superstar other than Luka has a bad game, It’s basically a guarantee at this point. Cade MVP talk are back baby

Luka, after all these years of experience, still easily gets frustrated when defenses clamps on him. Like, you’re talented bro do you expect them not to defend you? Dude still allow the defense and the miscalls get under his skin.

Even Jordan learned just to shrug it off back when the pistons were trying to literally injure/hurt him. Last night, the pistons were straight up hacking wemby all night. Wemby talked to refs at some point, sure, but he didn’t whine at all. For the most part he just walked back into the play. Luka needs that kind of mindset. Whining all the time and not going back on D is what’s killing your team, not the miscalls.

it’s gotten to the point where he’s getting the call and STILL complaining to the refs even though it got called

He’s right. Luka is the most boring “superstar” to watch. It’s not fun watching someone complain and not playing defense. We laugh, but there is a reason why Nico wanted out of the Luka business

these guys whining as much as him jfc

Luka and Caitlin are two of my favorite basketball players, but even as a huge fan, their constant complaining/whining to the refs is hard to watch.

As for Lowe’s point about Luka not looking as great as his stats, I think that’s mostly to do with the Lakers team not fitting him as well as it did in Dallas.

The Mavericks team had years to optimize Luka’s incredible strengths while minimizing his weaknesses. The Lakers will need much more than a year to do the same.

Michael Pena: Too much charisma?

He’s genuinely insufferable when he’s on whiny mode. It’s remarkable how unlikable this lakers team is.

I don’t get why it didn’t work here. Complaining when you don’t get what you want is the most Dallas thing you can do.

Blame the officiating, not Luka. Clearly foul baiting and complaining to the refs is working, given that he leads the NBA in free throw attempts per game.

It’s more annoying how broadcasters make a spectacle out of what Luka is doing all game. They’re the ones not making it about basketball. There’s hundreds of other things going on during a game and yet the announcers and broadcasters and producers make a show of what Luka is doing all game.

Come on guys.. I know we can be smarter and realize that Luka = clicks and generates more views across social media which equals more money for all involved.

Nothing in media is genuine. Sad you guys are falling for it lol

I know these guys don’t watch every game. Bc his complaining has not been near as bad as it used to be this season.

He’s not the only one that does it either. But these guys pick and choose who they’re ok with doing it.

Stg he also complained this much when he was on Dallas and we never heard about it from anyone, now Lowe and Simmons and everyone with a mic is talking about it lol.

It is super fucking annoying though, it makes the games really hard to watch and I wish he’d just shut up and get back on defense. Just funny how much of a talking point it is now that he’s in LA.

King Nico

People joke about the overwatch gaming rage but it actually looks like one of my gamer buddies is out there complaining about hacking and shit

He’s been this way ever since the series they won a couple years ago against. Insufferably whiny and it’s made me lose a lot of respect for his game. Need to learn when it’s time to just stfu and hoop, but it doesn’t seem like he ever will.

Doncic in LA is a vibes/culture match made in hell 

madrid dna

After the next game, some dipshit reporter is going to ask Luka if he’s found his joy again while playing with Lebron.

Is playing one on one with the refs a new saying. It’s good if it is. Or I am just old. 

Slow news day, huh?

Unrelated question, but where is this video coming from? I had been listening to Zach Lowe show on YouTube and it went a few weeks without a new video, so I opened up a podcast player and saw he had been releasing the episodes on the podcast feed. But I don’t see any new episodes on his YouTube channel or the Ringer NBA channel.

I like being able to listen to NBA podcasts on YouTube so I can put it on my shop TV to play in the background while I work, so just wondering what happened to his YouTube feed?

As a Lakers fan, its obvious this happens more when Luka isn’t able to impact the game as much and has a flawed team. Complaining goes up but willingness to take it out in the defense or inspire teammates to work through adversity is nonexistent

Easy way to solve this.

If it is a live play, it’s a technical to go and complain to a ref.

I don’t understand why JJ and / or LeBron have sit him down and just showed him how it hurts the team. Like you could actually quantify the points the other team scores when he doesn’t get back on defense.

is he the league’s biggest whiner? probably. is he leading the league in FTs? also yes

afaict, it’s working, just as SGA’s flopping was

Nowadays the players are playing to draw fouls. Because that’s the most efficient way to score

The entire spurs pistons game thread last night had a lakers guy in there crying the entire time that not enough fouls were being called. I see where the fans get it

Luka and jokic lead the league with whines per game

That’s a great perspective: are you playing 1 v 1 against the refs?

Would you rather have a whiner or a flopping trick biatch?? I’ll take Luka all day over LJ

That’s just who he his. No more “I’m gonna work on that in the offseason” bullshit lol.

It’s annoying as fuck watching him play, as talented as he is. Fucking play the game, dude.

11FTA/game BTW. He started the season at a scorching 13 FTA/game. The true merchant.

I think it’s fair to say for Luka, most defences are fouling him a lot more than other players because that’s their only hope to get a stop on him. But to think of guys like Kobe who would get the same treatment and would never come across as a complainer to this level. I also get the new culture of this NBA where it gets closer to soccer levels where they feel like it’s their job to try and work the refs enough to get more fouls but as a Laker and Luka fan it is unbearable at times, especially when it’s a tense game like against the Celtics where you need to get engaged in the game and his demeanour really takes away from the intensity of the match.

The one postseason he (mostly) quit bitching at the refs instead of getting back on defense he made the finals and it wasnt a coincidence. 

 Its ok if hes bad at defense if hes back there actually trying to do something, making the other team at least work for it but if hes not even back there playing defense because hes still bitching at the refs not even his amazing offensive skill can overcome that.

r/nba ⁹⁄₁₁ right here

Who cares lmao

I just remember hoping every new season that he’ll mature regarding this matter. It never happened lol. At this point, this is who he really is. Great player, just really hard to watch.

Dude he’s always been so annoying how much he complains

that’s his outlet when things don’t go his way plus the dread of being so far away from Finals contention. I don’t think he’ll ever change, but seeing a psychiatrist might help.

Luka is about to officially enter into Harden, Embiid, Westbrook territory. By next year the only conversations had about him will be about his flaws and how he hasn’t won. We will slowly forget he was ever good

This is literally nearly every player I see now. Maybe Luka is a 10, but don’t dare act like other players aren’t 8s and 9s.

Its almost like an addiction or habit. Because if someone asks him…do you legit want and expect 40 free throws a game? Its baffling

You can’t have Luka on a team that lives on the foul line and not expect that. It’s a match made in hell.

Zach Lowe complaining about Luka’s complaining is so much worse…

Wow, based on how disgusted he seems to be… it looks like Lowe just watched his first game of modern NBA basketball.

After watching a little bit of soccer on TV I instantly realized where Luka gets it. That’s like half the game over there.

He’s absolutely playing to draw a foul every possession. He’s just good enough to still score doing that