The Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul podcast has been a factory of terrible takes, but Kellerman made an exception in the recent episode.
Kellerman criticized Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic for constantly complaining to the refs, and Kellerman was spot-on for this. Luka's complaining has once again reached insufferable levels.
Max Kellerman hit the nail on the head about Luka Doncic's complaining
Luka's constant complaining (every play!) has become unwatchable, and it's also apparently contagious -- Lakers head coach JJ Redick was foolishly fixated on a single missed call during the postgame presser of Sunday's 22-point loss to the Celtics.
Hilariously, Kellerman proposed that Luka's statue outside Crypto.com Arena one day should present Luka in a pose arguing with the officials. It was a good moment for Kellerman and the podcast, which has been insufferable in its own right for nearly all of its short existence thus far.
Following his refreshing and accurate Luka take, Kellerman shifted back into regularly scheduled programming and dove headfirst into another wobbly take that Jaylen Brown is a better basketball player than Luka.
But let's return to the Luka complaining issue for our purposes here. It really needs to stop, or at least diminish substantially.
For inspiration on this matter, Doncic should be reminded that his fellow European megastar Nikola Jokic made a conscious effort recently to stop arguing with the officials, and Jokic has testified to the benefits this shift in strategy has had on his game.
Specifically, Jokic has admitted that he was wasting a lot of energy arguing with refs every night, and now that he's freed himself of that burden, he's able to use that otherwise wasted energy on the basketball court for winning purposes.
You hear that, Luka? The world's greatest player doesn't think that arguing with officials is a fruitful exercise. Maybe you should follow suit.
The most unpalatable quality of the Lakers' culture of complaining (LeBron isn't free of guilt either) is that it's paired with lazy effort on defense and, in general, inconsistent competitiveness and unreliable passion.
It would be one thing if Luka were diving all over the floor defensively, sacrificing his body on a nightly basis, and then occasionally yelling at a ref out of passionate rage.
What we have instead is a Lakers team, led by Luka, that plays softer than their opponent but argues twice as hard about not getting special treatment from the refs. Not a good look.