DALLAS — The genesis for the Mavericks’ surprise run to the Western Conference finals might’ve started during their Dec. 7 home loss to the Brooklyn Nets.
That’s when TNT analyst Reggie Miller criticized Luka Doncic’s weight and conditioning at several points in the broadcast.
Concerned Miller might’ve upset the Mavericks and their superstar with his comments?
The opposite, it seems.
In an interview Tuesday on The Dan Patrick Show, Miller said Dallas appreciated the former Hall of Fame guard reinforcing what the coaching and training staff had emphasized with Doncic over the first two months of the season.
“He didn’t, per se, say thank you,” Miller said Tuesday of Doncic. “He gave me a dap and shook his head and said ‘I understood.’
“Jason Kidd said thank you because it’s almost — and you know this very well as a parent — you can say everything you want to your kids and it goes in one ear and out the other. But when they hear from somewhere else, and it’s the same message, they’re like, ‘Oh OK, I get it.’
“So he understood, and he knew, and Jason Kidd had been kind of verbalizing to him: ‘You’ve got the kingdom at your feet, young man, but you’ve got to get in better shape and you’ve got to stay off the officials.’ And [Doncic] took both of those advice coming from Kevin Harlan and myself and obviously from Jason Kidd, and this is where we are now.”
On that broadcast, Miller called out Doncic for “plodding” across the court, particularly on defense and said “this is the heaviest I’ve probably ever seen Luka look,” imploring Doncic to “trim down.”When asked about Miller’s comments afterward, Doncic said “I know I’ve got to do better” and has since explained why he started the season out of shape.
He took weeks off after a grueling summer leading the Slovenian national team to and through its first-ever Olympics, he said, and worked only on shooting, not on conditioning, in preparation for training camp.
In the interview Tuesday, Patrick said he texted Miller after the Mavericks-Nets broadcast to ask whether Miller thought the criticism was fair.
Did Miller receive feedback about “fat-shaming” one of the NBA’s premier players?
“Obviously some people did,” Miller said. “Having been on Turner and TNT for the last 15-plus [years], they give us a platform for us to be honest, and I know how great Luka can and will be in the future. At the start of the season, he wasn’t at his best, and for all the reasons that you just highlighted, words out of Luka’s mouth, he understood it was a long and tough summer for him, too.
“For them to qualify for the Olympics, it was very difficult, and I understand why he took three weeks to a month off. First of all, I would like to know where he was partying for three or four weeks for him to pick up 30 pounds because that’s the kind of party I want to go to with you, Luka. I want to be hanging out with you.
“But he understood to be at this level in the NBA, he had to be better. He had to be lighter, and again, we weren’t fat shaming because when he was at his best, which we have seen in these playoffs, no one can touch him.”
Less than a week after Miller’s comments, Doncic missed the first of 10 consecutive games with left ankle soreness — lingering issues with a sprain he first suffered in mid-November — and then COVID-19.
When he returned Jan. 2 in improved health and physical shape, Doncic averaged 29.8 points, 9.7 rebound, 8.9 assists and 1.2 steals while shooting 46.1% from the floor and 36.5% from three in 44 games to close the regular season.
Among players on the four conference finals teams — Dallas, Golden State, Boston and Miami — Doncic is the leading scorer (31.5 points) and rebounder (10.1 boards) this postseason and tied for the lead in assists (6.6) with Green. Doncic’s 1.9 steals-per-game average ranks only behind Heat star Jimmy Butler’s 2.1
Miller isn’t surprised.
“It’s funny,” Miller said. “Every time we would speak with Jason Kidd before [a] game, he keeps going back to, ‘He’s LeBron. He’s LeBron. He’s too big. He’s too physical. They have no answer for him.’ And he’s showing that because when he’s in shape and his size, [he’s] being able to get wherever he wants on the floor.”
