Jason Kidd on Luka Dončić criticism: ‘Give my man a break’

DALLAS — In response to the fierce criticism Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić has received after fouling out of Game 3 of the NBA Finals, his coach said to “give my man a break.”

“For whatever reason, there have been some personal attacks on him, but he will learn from them and he will be better when he comes back from it,” Mavs coach Jason Kidd said in a series of lengthy comments about the criticisms laid at Dončić’s feet over the last two days.

“I think that’s what I’m more disappointed in is that we are at the highest stage where we have one of the best players in the world playing the game the right way but we want to criticize some of the things that he does not do well,” Kidd added.

Kidd declined to highlight any single piece of criticism, and there has been plenty to choose from. While Dončić is averaging nearly 30 points per game in this series, he has been targeted repeatedly on defense by the Boston Celtics and was called for four fouls in the fourth quarter that disqualified him from a close loss in Game 3.

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“When you look at what’s come out here in the last day or so, if you’ve watched the Mavs, Luka has improved his defense,” Kidd argued. “But we are asking him, or some are asking him, to be a shutdown defender. Well, he’s never been on an All-Defensive Team, but he’s been on five All-Pro teams, first team. So that means he’s one of the top five players in the world, and he’s playing the game the right way where he can find open guys.”

Dončić draws not only criticism for his defense but also his incessant complaining toward officials. After he fouled out of a 2023 FIBA World Cup game for Slovenia last summer, Dončić vowed to learn to control his temper — a process that is, we can say, ongoing.

“When you’re on the biggest stage, there’s got to be — someone’s got to poke a hole,” Kidd said. “This will only make the great ones better. When you look at, we talked about it yesterday, with LeBron, Michael, the greats, the GOATs, they all were poked at and they came back stronger and better.

“We are all here to watch him play, right, and so let’s just enjoy it,” Kidd added. “He’s 25 years old. He will be better. Hopefully he’s better tonight.”