I wonder how Mavs fans feel about this lol
On the other hand you always want to support your franchise superstar but on the other hand this unironically plays a huge role in stuff like Luka being at 80% in the playoffs this year
Luka has said winning an Olympic medal with Slovenia would mean more to him than winning an nba championship.
I think it's good to let him represent his country. He does so much for the Mavs, it's only right to support him for his country.
Yeah this conversation was always a nonstarter, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about it because this is really important to Luka and the team has to respect it.
It's also much more prestigious to play for your country than a team. Olympics are only every 4 years whilst you can compete for the league title every year. Of course the NBA is much more presitigious than other leagues, but still.
Yeah, like as a mavs fan, I think you can't really stop him. You went to a finals and basically lost to the infinity gauntlet earring thanos.
Do we want him to get some rest? Yes but it's his body and choice.
People forget that for a mavs team getting to a finals is pretty good considering we weren't in the playogfs the last year. If that means Luka will play the Olympic games? Then might as well.
I would be super cool with this if Luka had any chance of winning with Slovenia. It's honestly super awkward too. They don't even have a full slovenian roster.
Not to mention the incredibly obvious fact that if he where to ever win a NBA title, he would make Slovenia very proud. A realistic goal.
But Luka has shown that he has no mental strength or understanding to achieve his goals.
The whining he did in game 3 in the NBA finals is gonna be the pinnacle of what his career's story is gonna be.
So what if he doesn't have a realistic chance of winning? Who cares? Luka believes its possible that's all that matters.
They came 4th in the 2020 Olympics.
He's already won the European championships.
Would you support Luka taking a season off from the Mavs if he didn't think they had a realistic chance of winning the nba championship?
No mental strength? Every single nba player has the mental strength to have gotten to the nba which is an achievement in itself.
>if he where to ever win a NBA title, he would make Slovenia very proud
I don't think you'll ever get Luka's mindset, coming from 350 million pop. country with such successes in sports. I'm from 40 million country and even for us, Olympics are **the** thing. Now imagine 2 million, city sized, tiny Slovenia.
And no, Luka winning NBA title would mean much for Slovenians but it's still foreign league and foreign club. He would be just one Slovenian, in overall majority American team. Slovenia winning would mean much, much more for Slovenians. Kind of obvious.
Obviously Slovenia winning the olympics would be bigger for Slovenians and Luka. It's not realistic with the talent they have.
Wouldnt Slovenia be proud if he won an NBA title? That is also obvious to me but apparently it got you defensive and wanted to compare.
I wasnt comparing. Just saying he should go for the realistic goal.
I have absolutely zero problem with it. It’s his life/career and it’s obviously super important to him to represent his country. My only gripe with Luka is his complaining to the officials too much.
nba players are harder to officiate as well though. i assume. since everyone is faster and more athletic. then how many games is a tournament? i figure playoffs are a lot more games so there will be more bad calls. not to mention we basically want bad calls to extend series out compared to an elimination game you would want it as fair as possible. so ya its true nba refs are horrible but its like that by design. we dont want the correct call everytime might be hard to understand this though
im sure it would help. but if your take out the bad calls that are bad on purpose i bet its only a few real bad mistake calls a game. i mean the fact its gotta be like that is annoying onto it self but ultimately probably makes a better product. basketball is a sensitive sport really. or at least nba rules are
International success means infinitely more to these guys than anything else, thats how it is in football/soccer as well. I guess American players don’t really care but if you try to stop guys like Luka from not playing these games, you will just lose them. I bet Luka would trade MVPs or championships for 1 Olympics Gold or something.
100%
Ask Tony Parker what his greatest achievement is, and he will always answer the gold medal in EuroBasket 2013, above any of his 4 NBA championships.
It's a damn shame American players and fans don't value international play as much, I love the NBA to death but there's nothing better than representing your country. The emotions I have from that Eurobasket and all the failures that preceded it are the strongest moments basketball has ever given me, and I am beyond hyped for the Olympics this year, even though I have a tough time believing in our medal chances.
To be fair, it's probably a lot harder to win gold on team France than it is to win an NBA championship.
Team USA almost always wins gold so it's simply not as valuable to American players who covet an NBA championship which is much harder for them to attain.
Yup in the US this is how it works basically for international basketball:
\- Win and some people give you moderate praise
\- Lose and it's the apocalypse and you're viewed as an embarrassment
Definitely a different dynamic than it is for other countries
Yeah it makes a ton of sense for sure, it just sucks because the FIBA World Cup is the best basketball tournament there is and it's a shame that the USA never sends its best players there. Olympics are great of course, but the fact that there are only 12 teams vs. 32, and that a disproportionate amount of spots go to nations that have no chances of achieving anything due to the requirement of having teams from every continent, makes it a much worse tournament from a purely basketball point of view.
I really hope that the continued improvement from non-USA nations and the increase of popularity for the sport will lead to America sending their superstars to the World Cup eventually, because it should be much more highly valued than it is currently. As much as I love basketball, the soccer World Cup is the single best event in sports, and I would love for its basketball equivalent to carry as much weight.
I think that the fact that Americans don't care about soccer as much is a big factor in why they don't care about international tournaments as much as they should, you guys tend to play your own sports which you completely dominate as a result, which then leads to this situation. Basketball is the one hope for that to change given how quickly other nations are catching up, so I do have hope that this will change in my lifetime. It's gonna take another 2004 Olympics situation for the USA to take it seriously, and obviously I'm hoping that France can be the one to make that happen with all the talent we have coming up (although I definitely don't expect that to happen this year)
It genuinely makes me sad when I see Mavs fans hoping to see Slovenia getting eliminated early so Luka can get some rest, this shit would never ever happen in soccer where the national teams are THE most important thing in the world. I really hope we see a huge mentality shift because it really sucks how it's seen as an afterthought when it should be the pinnacle of the sport.
What’s there to value if you just win every year?
Put me on a team with KD Curry Tatum and 11 other all stars and I’m sure I can win a gold with that team by doing absolutely jackshit
Once again, I completely understand why players don't care as much, I'm not blaming anybody here. I'm just saying as a fan of basketball and a fan of international tournaments it's a shame that we don't get to see the USA send its best players to the World Cup as it's the best framework for an international basketball tournament.
The soccer world cup is so insanely fun to follow here in France, seeing the entire nation coming together for a few weeks every 4 years are some of my best memories ever, and I wish it could be the same with my favorite sport. Obviously we're not going to reach that same level of excitement with how much less popular basketball is as a sport, but it's still sad to see how undervalued it is currently. As long as the clear-cut best nation doesn't send its best players it's just doomed to stay this way unfortunately, which sucks, even if I completely understand why that's the case.
> it's a shame that we don't get to see the USA send its best players to the World Cup
I could settle with them even send 2nd tier players, if they know they're good enough to guarantee them gold. But US in basketball and ice hockey sometimes send teams that are doomed to lose before reaching finals and that's what bothers me. That they don't care even about losing at international stage.
But it’s fun because it’s competitive. The US regularly sends its best the Olympics and people still care way less than the NBA. It’s like watching an all star game - amusing but not particularly consequential. I think it has very little to do with whether the US is sending its stars.
If America won the soccer World Cup each year, I seriously doubt it would remain this popular. So if anything, soccer fans should consider themselves lucky the US doesn’t bother with the one sport rest of the world cares about.
Yeah that's definitely a big part of it. But I still absolutely love watching France play in the Olympics, even if I know that it's extremely likely that the US ends up winning it all. And I care about that more than the NBA, as I assume most European fans do (obviously being a Hornets fan doesn't help lmao). Saying it isn't fun because it's not competitive is only true from an American point of view imo. I obviously don't believe that it's ever going to be as fun as the soccer World Cup, but I can still hope that we get to see the best players duke it out every four years in a tournament that is much better suited for high-level basketball play than the Olympics can ever aspire to be.
I totally get what you're saying here, but I can understand that and still think it's a shame that it isn't taken as seriously as I'd like it to be by the best basketball nation in the world. I hope basketball keeps getting more and more popular in other countries so that USA has a real incentive to start taking it more seriously, and I think we're not _that_ far off from that given how we've seen the US consistently lose whenever they send their B or C team, which would've been unimaginable not that long ago.
Most people with IQ greater than 85 know how to reason with counterfactuals but I guess that still leaves a lot of people like you who can’t grasp the concept.
If Americans cared about soccer rather than football baseball or basketball, then imagine all that talent going into one sport. US would absolutely dominate.
Lots of words to say nothing, if an aunt had balls she'd be an uncle, that much for if statements.
The argument about talent into one sport has been talked about so much, it is pretty delusional as well, what talent NFL and NBA are totally different sports being talented there does not translate into football at all.
"So if anything, soccer fans should consider themselves lucky the US doesn’t bother with the one sport rest of the world cares about." More like delusional
>It's a damn shame American players and fans don't value international play as much
That's a result of the Cold War ending. Before that, international play was important to America, especially against the USSR and its commie buddies (eg, East Germany). But other than a current conflict, America just doesn't have enough history of conflict with other countries like that.
There's obvious historical reasons why Japan vs Korea is super intense, or Greece vs Turkey. The closest thing America has is... itself?
If the Northeast US played the Southeast US then that might have some intensity, because they fought a bloody war against each other. If there were Team White America vs Team Black America, that would get pretty intense too.
But America vs Mexico? America vs Canada? It's just not the same.
To be fair it is not needed to be rivals politically to have good national team rivalries. Like in Asia you have China-Iran, Philippines-S. Korea, Philippines-Iran. They aren't really enemies politically.
It's just teams who meet a lot in competitive games that produce rivalries.
Gasol Spain-USA was actually a good rivalry before. Same with Ginobili Argentina-USA
I think once Canada catches up, it might become a good rival as well.
Philippines-S. Korea are rivals in what? i doubt korea sees it that way. if anything its japan but china sees japan as such as well i think. and its def from politics/history
the way east asians think, they would never consider a "lesser" country a rival. it would be a huge embarrassment if it was in their minds.
china probably thinks usa is only rival. korea probably thinks japan. japan probably thinks everyone is an honorable opponent lol. north korea probably thinks they run the world
>The closest thing America has is... itself?
I mean, you should have interesting rivalry in ice hockey with Canada. Your volleyball team is excellent and is usually competing for medals with my team and likes of Brazil or Italy, so those are tense matches.
In basketball I dunno, Spain maybe? They beat you at Olympics once or twice. It really doesn't have to be historically justified intensity (like wars from the past). Just interesting sport rivalries going for decades result in interesting series between different countries.
I wanted to asked who was it then but it was easier to find myself: it was Argentina. And Soviet Union twice, back in the day. So yeah, not much of a rivalry indeed.
If you count the group stage Lithuania, Puerto Rico and France have also beaten the US.
Also should note that the USSR beat us twice*. I don't think anyone considers 1972 legitimate.
This is what you get when you let a nerd try and talk sports, folks. Everybody else had it right, it's that realistically if the US put in effort, even now, it wouldn't be much competition. Why do you think people rag on the All-Star game so much. If it's not a competitive game, even with the greatest players, it's not great to watch,
Legit that 2004 Argentina Olympic gold medal was absolutely just an insane sporting moment. International competitions are just so far above club competitions.
its hard to care if you win every time . 16 of 19. compared to a nba championship which most guys wont even get the chance to be in one.
i mean it is what it is any other country in this position wouldnt care at all. at least usa players somewhat pretends to care as its a fun time and good bonding experience. american bball fans dont care what so ever unless they lose then its a little embarrassing. its almost like a brag, look how good we are and we dont even care. thats the level of dominance.
perspective. USA has over 1000 gold metals. next highest? soviet union with 400. then britian/china with 250 each i believe. lukas country has 8. if they won basketball it would more then double its entire histories count. usa couldnt care more then a solvenia even if they wanted to
> It's a damn shame American players and fans don't value international play as much, I love the NBA to death but there's nothing better than representing your country.
Americans value international play when there is competition and the four major sports leagues here provide better competition.
I'm thinking basketball is growing well enough internationally that it will take 20ish years for this to realistically happen.
I also wonder if the high variance of basketball will speed along the desire to compete internationally. Even when you're the best it's easy to lose a single game.
I think that's probably only true of the international guys and less so for the American guys. I'm sure LeBron values his NBA rings far more than Olympic Gold.
The greatest moment of Dirk’s career was carrying the Germany flag at the Olympics. How could we want to take this away from Luka?
The fact he was in a medal game for Slovenia last time around and would have won but for a ridiculous Batum play is more impressive than taking the mavs to the finals.
>this unironically plays a huge role in stuff like Luka being at 80% in the playoffs this year
DAL can load manage him if they're so worried about it, but you do not get between peoples of the former Yugoslavia and their patriotism. If DAL won't let him play for Team Slovenia, another NBA team will and Luka will go there instead.
If they win great hell yeah get to the Olympics. If they lose, im definitely not mad at the result. He looked again like he has no lift today, and his bad shooting continues 8-23. He needs rest but he’s trying to get his small country into the Olympics so let it play out.
it's his right, he's not healthy right now though and that really sucks. I'm rooting for Slo not to qualify, but if he was healthy like last olympics I'd be happy he was playing.
Not a hardcore Mavs fan but I support them whenever the Pistons are ass, so always lol.
I think it’s a great thing for Luka and the pride he has is admirable. At the same time, I also worry that he will suffer Yao Min esque injuries due to playing so much.
Either way, I understand why he takes that risk and I would probably do the same in his position
Not when he's injured. He's not really training. He's just playing games.
Last off season, it did help. He was in the best shape he had been in a long time.
Yeah, it didn't help the team needed him to play so many minutes when Kyrie got injured before the trades.
But when I went back to watch some games/highlights from the first month of the season, it was a bit of surprise to see how much better shape he was in, not to add, how fast he was moving.
Hopefully, he can come into next season the same way.
up to each guy, i respect each player's decision. if they prioritize it highly then its their call.
me personally? i dont like it. i find it an injury risk and a big opportunity cost of missing out on rest/preparation for the season. and mostly i just dont consider national team basketball that competitive/worth the extra effort.
but wtf do i know 99% of my basketball involvement is as a spectator. if a guy as elite as luka chooses to do it it must be for some reason, some variable we dont understand as armchair observers.
I wish the Mavs could just let him rest for the first month next season, or at least give him some time off, and maybe more if the Mavs can win without him
You say that like it’s some crazy myth that the CCP controls everything significant that happens in China.
Their policies are transparent and the CCP literally has representatives that report directly to them working at every major company.
Common now.
he has a huge brace/wrap on his knee during warmups
honestly despite that, he just missed a couple bunnies/shots he usually hits. game couldve been much closer in the 1st half
defense will be what it is. the shorter guard Filipovic was zipping by him at times. unfortunately Luka is not only the most talented player, but he might be the 2nd biggest player they have (they subbed in a taller guy off the bench), but Nebo and help defense from Cancar is not gonna cut it vs. a front line like Zubac & Saric
he shot 0 from behind the arc, which is what started happening when his knee got worse in the playoffs. His shot is broken right now cause his legs are fucked up.
If Luka were on the trade block, he'd probably be kept out for injury concerns just like Wiggins. Warriors are in-flux and are being kinda dumb about Wiggins though
> Do we really think they could stop him from playing if he really wanted to?
Contractually I think they can
Would be a bold move to piss off your star in that way tho
i don’t think this is his year to win anything and i do think he needs a month or more off from ball, but i respect that he always tries. it’s crazy that he made it to the finals playing as hurt as he was, hope he learns from this experience to come back better conditioned and in better health
I should have said "staying in good shape."
EDIT: To the person who said "8th most mpg in the playoffs btw" and immediately blocked me so I couldn't reply, I never said he's not a good scorer. I said he doesn't try to stay in shape or be useful on defense.
>[Luka is making zero effort plays on defense](https://np.reddit.com/r/Mavericks/comments/1de2y3w/game_thread_boston_celtics_20_at_dallas_mavericks/l8d051v/?context=3)
Your words, not mine.
My guy. The fact that you actually dug through my comment history to find a comment criticizing Luka proves my point.
Luka isn’t immune from criticism but this is a post about the guy being proud to represent his country and you just couldn’t help yourself but make a hating comment. This is why nobody likes Celtics fans.
My guy or gal, the fact that you agree Luka puts no effort in on defense proves my point that Luka puts no effort in on defense.
>this is a post about the guy being proud to represent his country
It was also a post about how Luka "always tries," which is not true.
>This is why nobody likes Celtics fans
No, that's because we're better than everybody else.
If you're truly a fan of Luka, wouldn't you want him to win the Olympics gold and come back in the NBA with increased confidence and aura? Imagine the legendary finals into olympic gold redemption arc, while carrying Slovenia
>Slovenia has produced some absolutely elite athletes for such a small country
I'm from Poland and this actually annoys me. Like I'm a little jelous. It's not only Slovenia but couple others of those small, Balkan countries. Vide Croatia and Serbia.
It kind of start making sense once you visit them. They sport culture, youth spending as much time outside as possible is strikingly visible. Ours prefer playing Counter Strike meanwhile theirs is hopping to those sea-side pools to play water polo all the time.
Competetive sport is also great way for people from small nations to make your name big. They can't compete in pop-culture and stuff like that but sports in this regard is fair and square.
"Southern Slavs" - Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians, Serbs are full of tall, athletic people. I would argue this region produces P4P some of the most athletic people across the world. I've lived in the region and I felt small walking around there.
There's a reason people form this region were known as some of the hardest warriors and were contracted as mercenaries for centuries.
I saw some research on this and it looks like sports are really accessible whether you're rich or not, and they have a lot of different sports available. Makes sense that they would have an active sports culture, Slovenia is punching way above its weight in terms of high level athletes, it has the population of Idaho.
On one hand I absolutely love that he feels so passionate about his country and basketball. I respect the Hell out of him for this. It shows me how much he loves the game and isn't just doing it because he happens to be great at it.
On the other hand I wish the dude would just take one offseason off lol. Especially after an extended season where the dude was literally bleeding from his fucking knees every playoff game for a month and a half lmao.
I respect it though. He has that hockey player mentality where even though the "main" league season is over he's still playing. NHL players go from losing in the playoffs on a Monday to playing a random European game on Thursday. They just love to play and that's Luka's mentality.
Agreed, it's a good thing for ANYONE to commit themselves to something bigger than just their personal wants and needs. I'm sure Luka knows that playing isn't the best choice for his health or career. But his country matters more to him, and that's pretty cool to me.
American basketball players generally don't feel the same way about representing their country. IMO, we have a selfishness problem and that's one of the reason international players are finding so much success in the NBA lately.
The irony is that while many NBA players don't seem enthusiastic about representing their country, the NBA and the players place a high emphasis on honoring veterans and expressing gratitude for their service. I mean they play the anthem every game...
I recall former Maverick Josh Howard had an opinion on that....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BqG9kjknVw
You're right though. The NBA recognizes the marketing value of being patriotic but I don't think most players care much at all.
Props to Luka, honestly. You have people like Embiid who dont give a fuk about playing for their country (like srs he could play for Cameroon or even France but decided to join the USA team???????). Esp. for such a small country like Slovenia, I'm sure it means so much to the whole country that Luka goes out for them internationally like this.
It's a shame they won't qualify for the Olympics, and an even bigger shame they lost by 1 to France last Olympics in the semis! They were SO CLOSE to the finals. For his sake, I hope to see him back in the Olympics one day.
I mean, selfishly, this is absolutely what is best for the Mavs. Luka clearly needs time to rest and recover. Are you expecting Americans to deeply care about the success of Slovenia?
Most Mavs fans recognize the importance of representing his country to Luka and fully expect him to play for his country. It's a core part of who he is and we don't want or expect him to change that.
It was the same with Dirk and Germany. Later in his career, Dirk realized he couldn't do both at the highest levels and he chose to retire internationally. Luka may do the same, he may not. But we, overall, fully support his choice to play.
>I mean, selfishly, this is absolutely what is best for the Mavs
I mean obviously but hard to imagine Slovenia would roll over just to please some Texan fans :D
Of course! I'd never expect that and won't be upset if they can qualify. But for Luka's sake - and our own - I hope this isn't their year and they find more success the next time around (IMO their team is just not that good right now and 50% of Luka isn't gonna change that).
buddy i love watching Luka and slovenia play basketball, but their roster this year is simply garbage with a capital G. Luka may win a game on his own, but the odds that they will lose quickly is high
For US residents, we need to respect the fact that representing your country in international plays means a lot more to them than us. On the flip side, non-US residents need to realize that most US residents don't give a flying fuck about international play outside of the layup to gold that is the Olympics.
some people legit forget we lucked into luka and if he decided tomorrow that he was out we’d be fucked
like he’s not god emperor of the mavs but we definitely have to play nice
He did before this season. Luke is like the new ben simmons in how we all get excited for what we see in the summer and then by playoffs its a questions if Luke will have more chins than me
Generally yes.
But this season the Mavs went deep in the playoffs and Luka is clearly struggling through a knee injury that either needs rest or surgery (or both). By playing in these international competitions, Luka could possibly be further damaging his knee or delaying the process of getting it repaired. I’d assume that’s why Mavs fans might be squeamish.
He had a huge brace on his knee during warmups.
Despite that, he just missed a few easy shots he usually makes. The game could’ve been much closer in the first half.
Defense was what it was. The shorter guard, Filipovic, was zipping by him at times. Unfortunately, Luka is not only the most talented player but also probably the second biggest player they have (they subbed in a taller guy off the bench). Nebo and help defense from Cancar just isn’t enough against a front line like Zubac and Saric.
just pick one thing... only olympics? OK fine...
but every fucking summer he has some shit that slovenia is playing in
become an assistant coach or some shit
Nothing but respect for Luka to put himself through the grueling international schedule after playing like 85 games already this season
I wonder how Mavs fans feel about this lol On the other hand you always want to support your franchise superstar but on the other hand this unironically plays a huge role in stuff like Luka being at 80% in the playoffs this year
Luka has said winning an Olympic medal with Slovenia would mean more to him than winning an nba championship. I think it's good to let him represent his country. He does so much for the Mavs, it's only right to support him for his country.
holy crap i feel sorry for the officials and teammates. we havent even seen luka mad yet, that was just slightly annoyed luka
Yeah this conversation was always a nonstarter, it doesn’t matter what anyone thinks about it because this is really important to Luka and the team has to respect it.
It's also much more prestigious to play for your country than a team. Olympics are only every 4 years whilst you can compete for the league title every year. Of course the NBA is much more presitigious than other leagues, but still.
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I mean, does seem like he’s not giving it his all? They did pretty well this year
Yeah, like as a mavs fan, I think you can't really stop him. You went to a finals and basically lost to the infinity gauntlet earring thanos. Do we want him to get some rest? Yes but it's his body and choice. People forget that for a mavs team getting to a finals is pretty good considering we weren't in the playogfs the last year. If that means Luka will play the Olympic games? Then might as well.
> it's his body and choice. Not in Texas it’s not
The comments I'm replying to are pointing out how he was 100% throughout the nba season/playoffs. That's what I'm referring to.
I would be super cool with this if Luka had any chance of winning with Slovenia. It's honestly super awkward too. They don't even have a full slovenian roster. Not to mention the incredibly obvious fact that if he where to ever win a NBA title, he would make Slovenia very proud. A realistic goal. But Luka has shown that he has no mental strength or understanding to achieve his goals. The whining he did in game 3 in the NBA finals is gonna be the pinnacle of what his career's story is gonna be.
Slovenia came in 4th in 2020 and were a point away from winning in the semis, quit talking out of your ass
So what if he doesn't have a realistic chance of winning? Who cares? Luka believes its possible that's all that matters. They came 4th in the 2020 Olympics. He's already won the European championships. Would you support Luka taking a season off from the Mavs if he didn't think they had a realistic chance of winning the nba championship? No mental strength? Every single nba player has the mental strength to have gotten to the nba which is an achievement in itself.
>if he where to ever win a NBA title, he would make Slovenia very proud I don't think you'll ever get Luka's mindset, coming from 350 million pop. country with such successes in sports. I'm from 40 million country and even for us, Olympics are **the** thing. Now imagine 2 million, city sized, tiny Slovenia. And no, Luka winning NBA title would mean much for Slovenians but it's still foreign league and foreign club. He would be just one Slovenian, in overall majority American team. Slovenia winning would mean much, much more for Slovenians. Kind of obvious.
Obviously Slovenia winning the olympics would be bigger for Slovenians and Luka. It's not realistic with the talent they have. Wouldnt Slovenia be proud if he won an NBA title? That is also obvious to me but apparently it got you defensive and wanted to compare. I wasnt comparing. Just saying he should go for the realistic goal.
This guy wanted Westbrook and poetl to dallas. His takes are not valid. Ignore him
I have absolutely zero problem with it. It’s his life/career and it’s obviously super important to him to represent his country. My only gripe with Luka is his complaining to the officials too much.
He was actually quite decent today, felt like he didn’t have all that juice… also smiling around with our players after fouls… quite out of character…
Fiba refs are better than NBA refs to be fair.
nba players are harder to officiate as well though. i assume. since everyone is faster and more athletic. then how many games is a tournament? i figure playoffs are a lot more games so there will be more bad calls. not to mention we basically want bad calls to extend series out compared to an elimination game you would want it as fair as possible. so ya its true nba refs are horrible but its like that by design. we dont want the correct call everytime might be hard to understand this though
NBA needs another ref and have them like 4 corners. NBA games too quick these days.
im sure it would help. but if your take out the bad calls that are bad on purpose i bet its only a few real bad mistake calls a game. i mean the fact its gotta be like that is annoying onto it self but ultimately probably makes a better product. basketball is a sensitive sport really. or at least nba rules are
> take out the bad calls that are bad on purpose Isn't this specifically the problem though?
It's not like FIBA players move in slow mo...
That and chugging a beer after a game
glad he’s got your blessing
The previous poster literally asked what Mavs fans thought, you dunce.
International success means infinitely more to these guys than anything else, thats how it is in football/soccer as well. I guess American players don’t really care but if you try to stop guys like Luka from not playing these games, you will just lose them. I bet Luka would trade MVPs or championships for 1 Olympics Gold or something.
I remember Manu had a great quote about winning the gold feels better since you grow up with the guys in your team.
100% Ask Tony Parker what his greatest achievement is, and he will always answer the gold medal in EuroBasket 2013, above any of his 4 NBA championships. It's a damn shame American players and fans don't value international play as much, I love the NBA to death but there's nothing better than representing your country. The emotions I have from that Eurobasket and all the failures that preceded it are the strongest moments basketball has ever given me, and I am beyond hyped for the Olympics this year, even though I have a tough time believing in our medal chances.
To be fair, it's probably a lot harder to win gold on team France than it is to win an NBA championship. Team USA almost always wins gold so it's simply not as valuable to American players who covet an NBA championship which is much harder for them to attain.
Yup in the US this is how it works basically for international basketball: \- Win and some people give you moderate praise \- Lose and it's the apocalypse and you're viewed as an embarrassment Definitely a different dynamic than it is for other countries
Exactly, ask an American mls player if they’d rather win the MLS cup or an international trophy, they’d say an international trophy.
Yeah it makes a ton of sense for sure, it just sucks because the FIBA World Cup is the best basketball tournament there is and it's a shame that the USA never sends its best players there. Olympics are great of course, but the fact that there are only 12 teams vs. 32, and that a disproportionate amount of spots go to nations that have no chances of achieving anything due to the requirement of having teams from every continent, makes it a much worse tournament from a purely basketball point of view. I really hope that the continued improvement from non-USA nations and the increase of popularity for the sport will lead to America sending their superstars to the World Cup eventually, because it should be much more highly valued than it is currently. As much as I love basketball, the soccer World Cup is the single best event in sports, and I would love for its basketball equivalent to carry as much weight. I think that the fact that Americans don't care about soccer as much is a big factor in why they don't care about international tournaments as much as they should, you guys tend to play your own sports which you completely dominate as a result, which then leads to this situation. Basketball is the one hope for that to change given how quickly other nations are catching up, so I do have hope that this will change in my lifetime. It's gonna take another 2004 Olympics situation for the USA to take it seriously, and obviously I'm hoping that France can be the one to make that happen with all the talent we have coming up (although I definitely don't expect that to happen this year) It genuinely makes me sad when I see Mavs fans hoping to see Slovenia getting eliminated early so Luka can get some rest, this shit would never ever happen in soccer where the national teams are THE most important thing in the world. I really hope we see a huge mentality shift because it really sucks how it's seen as an afterthought when it should be the pinnacle of the sport.
Its not just the US. Jokic and Giannis didn't play in the last World Cup either.
ya, olympic is sports pinnacle but the Worlds in almost every sport is more competitive than olympics
France has had the last 2 #1 picks
So?
What’s there to value if you just win every year? Put me on a team with KD Curry Tatum and 11 other all stars and I’m sure I can win a gold with that team by doing absolutely jackshit
Once again, I completely understand why players don't care as much, I'm not blaming anybody here. I'm just saying as a fan of basketball and a fan of international tournaments it's a shame that we don't get to see the USA send its best players to the World Cup as it's the best framework for an international basketball tournament. The soccer world cup is so insanely fun to follow here in France, seeing the entire nation coming together for a few weeks every 4 years are some of my best memories ever, and I wish it could be the same with my favorite sport. Obviously we're not going to reach that same level of excitement with how much less popular basketball is as a sport, but it's still sad to see how undervalued it is currently. As long as the clear-cut best nation doesn't send its best players it's just doomed to stay this way unfortunately, which sucks, even if I completely understand why that's the case.
> it's a shame that we don't get to see the USA send its best players to the World Cup I could settle with them even send 2nd tier players, if they know they're good enough to guarantee them gold. But US in basketball and ice hockey sometimes send teams that are doomed to lose before reaching finals and that's what bothers me. That they don't care even about losing at international stage.
But it’s fun because it’s competitive. The US regularly sends its best the Olympics and people still care way less than the NBA. It’s like watching an all star game - amusing but not particularly consequential. I think it has very little to do with whether the US is sending its stars. If America won the soccer World Cup each year, I seriously doubt it would remain this popular. So if anything, soccer fans should consider themselves lucky the US doesn’t bother with the one sport rest of the world cares about.
Yeah that's definitely a big part of it. But I still absolutely love watching France play in the Olympics, even if I know that it's extremely likely that the US ends up winning it all. And I care about that more than the NBA, as I assume most European fans do (obviously being a Hornets fan doesn't help lmao). Saying it isn't fun because it's not competitive is only true from an American point of view imo. I obviously don't believe that it's ever going to be as fun as the soccer World Cup, but I can still hope that we get to see the best players duke it out every four years in a tournament that is much better suited for high-level basketball play than the Olympics can ever aspire to be. I totally get what you're saying here, but I can understand that and still think it's a shame that it isn't taken as seriously as I'd like it to be by the best basketball nation in the world. I hope basketball keeps getting more and more popular in other countries so that USA has a real incentive to start taking it more seriously, and I think we're not _that_ far off from that given how we've seen the US consistently lose whenever they send their B or C team, which would've been unimaginable not that long ago.
What a dumb ass statement, you can't beat Panama talking about the world being lucky, USA is bad at football stop with the clown statements.
Most people with IQ greater than 85 know how to reason with counterfactuals but I guess that still leaves a lot of people like you who can’t grasp the concept. If Americans cared about soccer rather than football baseball or basketball, then imagine all that talent going into one sport. US would absolutely dominate.
Lots of words to say nothing, if an aunt had balls she'd be an uncle, that much for if statements. The argument about talent into one sport has been talked about so much, it is pretty delusional as well, what talent NFL and NBA are totally different sports being talented there does not translate into football at all.
This make no sense. We never good enough to win the world cup. This is just reality.
Do you understand the concept of a hypothetical?
"So if anything, soccer fans should consider themselves lucky the US doesn’t bother with the one sport rest of the world cares about." More like delusional
>It's a damn shame American players and fans don't value international play as much That's a result of the Cold War ending. Before that, international play was important to America, especially against the USSR and its commie buddies (eg, East Germany). But other than a current conflict, America just doesn't have enough history of conflict with other countries like that. There's obvious historical reasons why Japan vs Korea is super intense, or Greece vs Turkey. The closest thing America has is... itself? If the Northeast US played the Southeast US then that might have some intensity, because they fought a bloody war against each other. If there were Team White America vs Team Black America, that would get pretty intense too. But America vs Mexico? America vs Canada? It's just not the same.
To be fair it is not needed to be rivals politically to have good national team rivalries. Like in Asia you have China-Iran, Philippines-S. Korea, Philippines-Iran. They aren't really enemies politically. It's just teams who meet a lot in competitive games that produce rivalries. Gasol Spain-USA was actually a good rivalry before. Same with Ginobili Argentina-USA I think once Canada catches up, it might become a good rival as well.
Philippines-S. Korea are rivals in what? i doubt korea sees it that way. if anything its japan but china sees japan as such as well i think. and its def from politics/history the way east asians think, they would never consider a "lesser" country a rival. it would be a huge embarrassment if it was in their minds. china probably thinks usa is only rival. korea probably thinks japan. japan probably thinks everyone is an honorable opponent lol. north korea probably thinks they run the world
Its FIBA Asia Cup rivalry
Not really. It is the football world cup hype. American wouldn't understand.
>The closest thing America has is... itself? I mean, you should have interesting rivalry in ice hockey with Canada. Your volleyball team is excellent and is usually competing for medals with my team and likes of Brazil or Italy, so those are tense matches. In basketball I dunno, Spain maybe? They beat you at Olympics once or twice. It really doesn't have to be historically justified intensity (like wars from the past). Just interesting sport rivalries going for decades result in interesting series between different countries.
Spain has never beaten the US in the Olympics. We've beaten them for Gold 3 times but they've never actually beaten us
I wanted to asked who was it then but it was easier to find myself: it was Argentina. And Soviet Union twice, back in the day. So yeah, not much of a rivalry indeed.
If you count the group stage Lithuania, Puerto Rico and France have also beaten the US. Also should note that the USSR beat us twice*. I don't think anyone considers 1972 legitimate.
This is what you get when you let a nerd try and talk sports, folks. Everybody else had it right, it's that realistically if the US put in effort, even now, it wouldn't be much competition. Why do you think people rag on the All-Star game so much. If it's not a competitive game, even with the greatest players, it's not great to watch,
the 2 players who put the least amount of effort into the All-Star Game were 2 euros
Legit that 2004 Argentina Olympic gold medal was absolutely just an insane sporting moment. International competitions are just so far above club competitions.
parker never got to play in a worlds unfortunately, due to fatigue, injuries sustained in the warmup match, etc
That's Americano for you, all about the individual and nothing else.
its hard to care if you win every time . 16 of 19. compared to a nba championship which most guys wont even get the chance to be in one. i mean it is what it is any other country in this position wouldnt care at all. at least usa players somewhat pretends to care as its a fun time and good bonding experience. american bball fans dont care what so ever unless they lose then its a little embarrassing. its almost like a brag, look how good we are and we dont even care. thats the level of dominance. perspective. USA has over 1000 gold metals. next highest? soviet union with 400. then britian/china with 250 each i believe. lukas country has 8. if they won basketball it would more then double its entire histories count. usa couldnt care more then a solvenia even if they wanted to
It means less to US players because we win so much. As arrogant as that is lol.
> It's a damn shame American players and fans don't value international play as much, I love the NBA to death but there's nothing better than representing your country. Americans value international play when there is competition and the four major sports leagues here provide better competition. I'm thinking basketball is growing well enough internationally that it will take 20ish years for this to realistically happen. I also wonder if the high variance of basketball will speed along the desire to compete internationally. Even when you're the best it's easy to lose a single game.
I think that's probably only true of the international guys and less so for the American guys. I'm sure LeBron values his NBA rings far more than Olympic Gold.
No problem with this whatsoever. This is a big part of who Luka is and what makes him Luka.
The greatest moment of Dirk’s career was carrying the Germany flag at the Olympics. How could we want to take this away from Luka? The fact he was in a medal game for Slovenia last time around and would have won but for a ridiculous Batum play is more impressive than taking the mavs to the finals.
>this unironically plays a huge role in stuff like Luka being at 80% in the playoffs this year DAL can load manage him if they're so worried about it, but you do not get between peoples of the former Yugoslavia and their patriotism. If DAL won't let him play for Team Slovenia, another NBA team will and Luka will go there instead.
If they win great hell yeah get to the Olympics. If they lose, im definitely not mad at the result. He looked again like he has no lift today, and his bad shooting continues 8-23. He needs rest but he’s trying to get his small country into the Olympics so let it play out.
Who cares? Not Luka. He doesn't care. It is a weird question and very American centric. Olympic and world cup gold are much more valuable.
You take this rather than luka chugging beer off season
it's his right, he's not healthy right now though and that really sucks. I'm rooting for Slo not to qualify, but if he was healthy like last olympics I'd be happy he was playing.
Not a hardcore Mavs fan but I support them whenever the Pistons are ass, so always lol. I think it’s a great thing for Luka and the pride he has is admirable. At the same time, I also worry that he will suffer Yao Min esque injuries due to playing so much. Either way, I understand why he takes that risk and I would probably do the same in his position
Must feel awesome! No load managers, willing to play when body hurts, care about honor, have respect for fans. Players like this are so pre 2010s
Love that he wants to win for his country. I hope he gets them a medal.
I hate it, but what can the team really do about it? If you try to stop him, he might get pissed off and ask out.
I don't mind it as much if he's healthy but playing DEEEP into the summer while clearly injured and not 100% is just foolish imo.
Don't put it to Luka like that. He'd probably just skip the NBA playoffs to make sure he's healthy for Team Slovenia, if he had to pick one.
The NBA finals is just Luka’s warm up series to playing for Slovenia during the summer. Knock the rust off so to speak
This keeps him in shape throughout the off-season
Not when he's injured. He's not really training. He's just playing games. Last off season, it did help. He was in the best shape he had been in a long time.
and then lost it when he got hurt in the winter time. It's crazy how fast he can Dad bod out.
Yeah, it didn't help the team needed him to play so many minutes when Kyrie got injured before the trades. But when I went back to watch some games/highlights from the first month of the season, it was a bit of surprise to see how much better shape he was in, not to add, how fast he was moving. Hopefully, he can come into next season the same way.
Sad but it's true, he loses his shape when he's injured.
I love that he wants to rep his country, but I’m terrified of him destroying his body like Yao Ming did
Luka plays basketball to stay in shape. If he's playing ball he's in his game chair getting fat while talking shit to some 12 year olds online.
up to each guy, i respect each player's decision. if they prioritize it highly then its their call. me personally? i dont like it. i find it an injury risk and a big opportunity cost of missing out on rest/preparation for the season. and mostly i just dont consider national team basketball that competitive/worth the extra effort. but wtf do i know 99% of my basketball involvement is as a spectator. if a guy as elite as luka chooses to do it it must be for some reason, some variable we dont understand as armchair observers.
I wish the Mavs could just let him rest for the first month next season, or at least give him some time off, and maybe more if the Mavs can win without him
Keeps the hookah and doble queso out of his system for another month might be an overall win
If he’s going to play every game through the finals with ice bags on his knees and chest, he can do what he wants
Same shit as Dirk dragging the German team in the offseason every year
man's really gonna Yao Ming himself of his own free will
Yao Ming yao minged himself of his own free will
Not sure how much free will was involved in some of those decisions.
Why is it so hard to comprehend that these guys actually care about representing their countries?
No no this is Reddit, anything China or a Chinese person does is bad and was forced upon them because communism.
You say that like it’s some crazy myth that the CCP controls everything significant that happens in China. Their policies are transparent and the CCP literally has representatives that report directly to them working at every major company. Common now.
He’s not talking about playing in the Olympics, being a Chinese sports factory kid is grueling
That is part of it, but when you look at Yao’s youth it’s pretty clear that he was never exactly free to explore alternate career paths.
It’s just because of China’s rep.
Why is it so hard to comprehend it’s not some ordinary country?
I upvoted both bc it was only a dog at China only disguised as a joke
Wasn’t he forced to play in China every offseason? I don’t think it was his own free will
Ok ccp
he has a huge brace/wrap on his knee during warmups honestly despite that, he just missed a couple bunnies/shots he usually hits. game couldve been much closer in the 1st half defense will be what it is. the shorter guard Filipovic was zipping by him at times. unfortunately Luka is not only the most talented player, but he might be the 2nd biggest player they have (they subbed in a taller guy off the bench), but Nebo and help defense from Cancar is not gonna cut it vs. a front line like Zubac & Saric
he shot 0 from behind the arc, which is what started happening when his knee got worse in the playoffs. His shot is broken right now cause his legs are fucked up.
Letting him play? Do we really think they could stop him from playing if he really wanted to? Lol
Contractually, it could be possible. No idea if that exists
Probably but thats one of those clauses you really dont want to use with a superstar. They remember that shit
Yea, like if anybody puts that in, a good agent catches and discloses it to the player.
Didn’t the Warriors stop Wiggins from playing for Canada?
Wiggins does not have the same power as Luka. Luka is a superstar. Wiggins came off an awful awful year.
If Luka were on the trade block, he'd probably be kept out for injury concerns just like Wiggins. Warriors are in-flux and are being kinda dumb about Wiggins though
‘Recovering from injury’ if the reports are true
Which they're not. Wiggins wouldn't be pissed if he was actually injured.
that's what RJ's dad(head of team Canada basketball) flat out said
> Do we really think they could stop him from playing if he really wanted to? Contractually I think they can Would be a bold move to piss off your star in that way tho
i don’t think this is his year to win anything and i do think he needs a month or more off from ball, but i respect that he always tries. it’s crazy that he made it to the finals playing as hurt as he was, hope he learns from this experience to come back better conditioned and in better health
[удалено]
He definitely came into the season in great shape so he's capable.
I should have said "staying in good shape." EDIT: To the person who said "8th most mpg in the playoffs btw" and immediately blocked me so I couldn't reply, I never said he's not a good scorer. I said he doesn't try to stay in shape or be useful on defense.
8th most mpg in the playoffs btw.
keep playing the part of a clown. you’re getting good at it
man despite winning the finals celtics supporters are pretty salty
they’re only doing it *because* they won. boston sports fans are the most insufferable in sports
I'm just talking hoop.
Dude shut the fuck up. God damn Celtics fans have been the sorest winners I’ve ever seen
>[Luka is making zero effort plays on defense](https://np.reddit.com/r/Mavericks/comments/1de2y3w/game_thread_boston_celtics_20_at_dallas_mavericks/l8d051v/?context=3) Your words, not mine.
My guy. The fact that you actually dug through my comment history to find a comment criticizing Luka proves my point. Luka isn’t immune from criticism but this is a post about the guy being proud to represent his country and you just couldn’t help yourself but make a hating comment. This is why nobody likes Celtics fans.
My guy or gal, the fact that you agree Luka puts no effort in on defense proves my point that Luka puts no effort in on defense. >this is a post about the guy being proud to represent his country It was also a post about how Luka "always tries," which is not true. >This is why nobody likes Celtics fans No, that's because we're better than everybody else.
Not we. The team you chose to support. You seem to think that your team being better than others means you are better.
No, I meant we're better too.
You mean the fans? That’s a crazy take. Yall are bitching about the Mavs when yall won the finals. Take the win like damn.
Why is that a crazy take?
“Thank you Dallas for letting me play. I was gonna play anyways, but thanks 😂”
Yeah man! Anytime! (please god let them get eliminated so this mf can have the first summer of rest since like 2019 holy shit)
If you're truly a fan of Luka, wouldn't you want him to win the Olympics gold and come back in the NBA with increased confidence and aura? Imagine the legendary finals into olympic gold redemption arc, while carrying Slovenia
Impossible to defeat this year’s Us, France, Canada anyway
Slovenia has produced some absolutely elite athletes for such a small country. Tina Maze, Anze Kopitar, Luka, etc...
>Slovenia has produced some absolutely elite athletes for such a small country I'm from Poland and this actually annoys me. Like I'm a little jelous. It's not only Slovenia but couple others of those small, Balkan countries. Vide Croatia and Serbia. It kind of start making sense once you visit them. They sport culture, youth spending as much time outside as possible is strikingly visible. Ours prefer playing Counter Strike meanwhile theirs is hopping to those sea-side pools to play water polo all the time. Competetive sport is also great way for people from small nations to make your name big. They can't compete in pop-culture and stuff like that but sports in this regard is fair and square.
"Southern Slavs" - Slovenes, Croats, Bosnians, Serbs are full of tall, athletic people. I would argue this region produces P4P some of the most athletic people across the world. I've lived in the region and I felt small walking around there. There's a reason people form this region were known as some of the hardest warriors and were contracted as mercenaries for centuries.
That's what I was thinking yesterday when I watched Pogacar rip the whole Tour de France competition a second one ...
they are one of the two developed Balkan countries other one being Croatia
I saw some research on this and it looks like sports are really accessible whether you're rich or not, and they have a lot of different sports available. Makes sense that they would have an active sports culture, Slovenia is punching way above its weight in terms of high level athletes, it has the population of Idaho.
On one hand I absolutely love that he feels so passionate about his country and basketball. I respect the Hell out of him for this. It shows me how much he loves the game and isn't just doing it because he happens to be great at it. On the other hand I wish the dude would just take one offseason off lol. Especially after an extended season where the dude was literally bleeding from his fucking knees every playoff game for a month and a half lmao. I respect it though. He has that hockey player mentality where even though the "main" league season is over he's still playing. NHL players go from losing in the playoffs on a Monday to playing a random European game on Thursday. They just love to play and that's Luka's mentality.
Agreed, it's a good thing for ANYONE to commit themselves to something bigger than just their personal wants and needs. I'm sure Luka knows that playing isn't the best choice for his health or career. But his country matters more to him, and that's pretty cool to me. American basketball players generally don't feel the same way about representing their country. IMO, we have a selfishness problem and that's one of the reason international players are finding so much success in the NBA lately.
The irony is that while many NBA players don't seem enthusiastic about representing their country, the NBA and the players place a high emphasis on honoring veterans and expressing gratitude for their service. I mean they play the anthem every game...
I recall former Maverick Josh Howard had an opinion on that.... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-BqG9kjknVw You're right though. The NBA recognizes the marketing value of being patriotic but I don't think most players care much at all.
Good on him. Great honour representing your country at the Olympics
He's literally Yao Ming'in his own career. His body is gonna break down before he hits 30.
Props to Luka, honestly. You have people like Embiid who dont give a fuk about playing for their country (like srs he could play for Cameroon or even France but decided to join the USA team???????). Esp. for such a small country like Slovenia, I'm sure it means so much to the whole country that Luka goes out for them internationally like this. It's a shame they won't qualify for the Olympics, and an even bigger shame they lost by 1 to France last Olympics in the semis! They were SO CLOSE to the finals. For his sake, I hope to see him back in the Olympics one day.
Yeah but Luka looks like absolute ass and his team sucks now too. Normally it wouldn’t be a big deal but he really needs to get some rest.
i think they will mercifully lose quickly and he can finally get some rest
Jesus american mindset is quite something
I mean, selfishly, this is absolutely what is best for the Mavs. Luka clearly needs time to rest and recover. Are you expecting Americans to deeply care about the success of Slovenia? Most Mavs fans recognize the importance of representing his country to Luka and fully expect him to play for his country. It's a core part of who he is and we don't want or expect him to change that. It was the same with Dirk and Germany. Later in his career, Dirk realized he couldn't do both at the highest levels and he chose to retire internationally. Luka may do the same, he may not. But we, overall, fully support his choice to play.
>I mean, selfishly, this is absolutely what is best for the Mavs I mean obviously but hard to imagine Slovenia would roll over just to please some Texan fans :D
Of course! I'd never expect that and won't be upset if they can qualify. But for Luka's sake - and our own - I hope this isn't their year and they find more success the next time around (IMO their team is just not that good right now and 50% of Luka isn't gonna change that).
r/AmericaBad
buddy i love watching Luka and slovenia play basketball, but their roster this year is simply garbage with a capital G. Luka may win a game on his own, but the odds that they will lose quickly is high
They need a rim protecting big badly. Croatia was doing the traffic cone drill on Luka
Gafford is thinking of joining the Slovenian team next year.
Luka should have "love of the game" clause like MJ.
For US residents, we need to respect the fact that representing your country in international plays means a lot more to them than us. On the flip side, non-US residents need to realize that most US residents don't give a flying fuck about international play outside of the layup to gold that is the Olympics.
he going to retire at 33.
He already said as much tbf
Okay wait we have an option? I am definitely not letting you lol
If you want to lose him for good then sure, he ain’t playing for a team that does not allow him to play international games which he cares more about.
People acting like Luka grew up pledging allegiance to Texas
Luka like Kansas City BBQ better
some people legit forget we lucked into luka and if he decided tomorrow that he was out we’d be fucked like he’s not god emperor of the mavs but we definitely have to play nice
Flashbacks to Slovenia night
Respect. Even though I don’t like the Mavs.
His playing right now is bad for the Mavs.
I know. As a Rockets fan. Been through it with Yao.
Give em hell boss
Let him play if he agrees to come into camp at 235
Doesn't he normally come into camp slimmed down and then get inexplicably fat like a month later?
He did before this season. Luke is like the new ben simmons in how we all get excited for what we see in the summer and then by playoffs its a questions if Luke will have more chins than me
Luka is doing it his way and I have a lot of admiration for that. He's like Kobe but if Kobe played for Italy too.
Slovenia has a effectively zero chance of going far at the Olympics, which makes his devotion only more admirable.
Don’t get Yao knees….
Fuck Steve Kerr and the entire GSW organization.
Bro, I fully get behind the national idea but please don’t get injured! Luka out there looks even in more pain than during the playoffs.
The mavericks go as far as luka takes them
Wouldn’t this help him stay fit, which he seems to struggle with in the offseason/overwatchseason? Seems like a worthwhile risk for Dallas.
Generally yes. But this season the Mavs went deep in the playoffs and Luka is clearly struggling through a knee injury that either needs rest or surgery (or both). By playing in these international competitions, Luka could possibly be further damaging his knee or delaying the process of getting it repaired. I’d assume that’s why Mavs fans might be squeamish.
Shots fired at the Warriors for mismanaging Wiggins
Dudes cooked. At this pace he’ll be broken by 30
He had a huge brace on his knee during warmups. Despite that, he just missed a few easy shots he usually makes. The game could’ve been much closer in the first half. Defense was what it was. The shorter guard, Filipovic, was zipping by him at times. Unfortunately, Luka is not only the most talented player but also probably the second biggest player they have (they subbed in a taller guy off the bench). Nebo and help defense from Cancar just isn’t enough against a front line like Zubac and Saric.
just pick one thing... only olympics? OK fine... but every fucking summer he has some shit that slovenia is playing in become an assistant coach or some shit
You do realize they don't just let you into the Olympics, right? You have to qualify
Dude just loves ball and his country.
shut the fuck up, entitled prick. Olympics gold would probably mean more to him than 3 NBA titles. he will play and you will like it