NBA Legend Charles Barkley Defends Against Luka Doncic Criticism After NBA Finals

Barkley says he doesn't understand where all the hate for Luka came from

February 20, 2022; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; NBA great Charles Barkley is honored for being selected to the NBA 75th Anniversary Team during halftime in the 2022 NBA All-Star Game at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

Despite being one of the best players in the NBA, Luka Doncic has caught a lot of criticism since leading the Dallas Mavericks to the NBA Finals. Plenty of NBA analysts have stood on their soap boxes saying he's too out of shape, he's not a good enough defender, or he complains too much ever to consider him a contender for the best player in the world. Charles Barkley is not one of those analysts.

Barkley appeared on the latest episode of "The Bill Simmons Podcast" and brought up Luka when talking about how great the "25-and-under" stars are in the NBA (around the 50:19 mark).

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"You see how quickly they turned on Luka in The Finals? 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.'"

"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."

"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 [sarcastically] 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."

Barkley is as hard as anybody on other outlets reporting only what will drive clicks and views and not talking about actual basketball. While Doncic did get help from a big P.J. Washington series against Oklahoma City and Kyrie Irving played well against the Clippers and Timberwolves, Doncic was the consistent power for Dallas throughout the playoffs. The Mavericks just weren't talented enough around Doncic to compete with Boston, leading them to make some of the changes they made this offseason, like bringing in Klay Thompson.

The discourse surrounding Doncic has definitely gone too far. He entered last season in the best shape of his career and got off to a blistering start, but nagging injuries held him back as the season closed and he still led them on an improbable postseason run. When fully healthy, Doncic is clearly in the conversation as the greatest player in the NBA.

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