Back in the 1980s, Michael Cooper was an integral part of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Showtime dynasty. He spent all 12 of his NBA seasons with them, and he helped them win five world championships during that time.
Cooper was known as one of the greatest defenders in NBA history, and he was arguably the league’s very first 3-and-D player. He was also known for being the type of player and man who was intensity-personified and would always give 100%, and he would get on his teammates to make sure they did the same.
While on his podcast “Showtime,” the Hall of Fame wing brought up Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic. While he gave Doncic credit for his statistical production, he threw shade at the Slovenia native for being slow and “lazy” (h/t Lakers Nation).
“Luka [Dončić] gives you that triple-double almost about every night, but he’s too slow for me. If he wasn’t a scorer, I would cut him. I give him credit for that, but to me, he’s lazy. Doesn’t hustle back on defense.”
Cooper isn’t wrong in his assessment of Doncic. While Doncic should be praised for his career averages of 28.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists a game, he isn’t exactly an impactful defender, and he plays at a slow pace offensively.
This became evident to those who hadn’t noticed yet in the NBA Finals several weeks ago. Doncic consistently walks the ball upcourt and doesn’t create pace or fast-break opportunities, and it bogged down the Mavs’ offense. While they averaged 117.9 points a game in the regular season, which was seventh in the league, that figure fell hard to 99.2 points a game in the championship series as Dallas lost in five games to the Boston Celtics.
He has always appeared to have a pudgy physique — in fact, in one game this past season, a fan heckled him and told him to get on the treadmill.
"LUKA YOU TIRED, GET ON THE TREADMILL!"
Luka Doncic reaction to fan incoming.
Luka Doncic has since pointed out the fan, who is being talked to by arena staff.
Kyrie Irving walked over and was looking at the fan, who just left.#Suns 100 #Mavs 78 after 3. pic.twitter.com/6npgrJhj6J
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) January 25, 2024
If Cooper were coaching Doncic — he coached the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks to back-to-back titles and has had numerous other coaching gigs — there’s no doubt he would’ve confronted the All-Star about his flaws in an effort to make him an even greater player.