Stephen A. Smith Blasts Luka Doncic For ‘Selfishness’ Vs. Celtics

Luka Doncic has gone viral for his explosive moments on the court, but fans saw the other side of the Mavericks star during the NBA Finals.

The Boston Celtics survived Game 3 at American Airlines Center on Wednesday night and went up 3-0 in their best-of-seven series against Dallas. Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were brilliant for the C’s, but all eyes were on Doncic, who fouled out of the contest with four minutes to go.

It’s anyone’s guess as to what would have happened had Doncic played the rest of the game. Dallas’ season and title hopes grew slimmer considering no team has ever come from a 3-0 deficit in NBA history. It was why ESPN insider Brian Windhorst and Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd took Doncic to task for his behavior toward the officials and for not stepping up like the superstar he’s billed as.

Stephen A. Smith on Thursday joined in on the Doncic callouts.

“… lt was because of the level of selfishness and the lack of accountability,” Smith said on ESPN’s “First Take.” “You are the superstar of the team. You’re supposed to be the leader of the team. Let’s put y’all in its proper perspective. We sit here with Kyrie Irving being seen as the reasonable one. The level-headed individual that needs to help and assist in reeling in Luka Doncic because Luka Doncic is so petulant and so petty. Let’s not forget he’s screaming at his bench and screaming at his coaches, ‘F–ing challenge the call.’ We saw that. He’s pointing the figure at everybody but himself, and he takes himself out of the game. …”

Doncic finished Game 3 with 27 points, six rebounds and six assists. But Mavericks fans will see the performance as a missed opportunity after Kyrie Irving had his best game of the series with his 35-point outing.

The Mavs star will need to put on the best performance of his career if Dallas wants to make history over the Celtics. Game 4 will tip off Friday at 8:30 p.m. ET.