It isn’t a secret that the NBA has become more offense-oriented over the last decade or so. One of the many superstars to benefit from this transition is Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic. Offensively, there isn’t a single flaw in his game. However, the same can’t be said for his defensive prowess. It has become a topic of conversation across the league, and Rashad McCants is the most recent figure to jump in.
When the Lakers pulled the trigger to land Doncic, they didn’t expect him to be a defensive stopper. They understood that his gifts as a basketball player are primarily on the offensive side of the ball. Nonetheless, it’s unacceptable to be nonexistent on defense.
Doncic was quite dreadful in the 2025 NBA playoffs, subsequently leading to the Lakers’ first-round exit. Subsequently, ahead of the 2025-26 season, the Slovenian prioritized his conditioning to ensure he was in the best shape of his career. The idea was that this new and improved version of himself would allow him to thrive on both ends of the court.
Unfortunately, that hasn’t been the case. The Lakers have a bottom-10 defense in the entire league. Individually, Doncic hasn’t elevated his play like the team and fans hoped for ahead of the season. Opponents’ field goal percentage at the rim is 1.8% greater with Doncic on the court.
The reality in some instances is that some players don’t have the physical tools to be good defenders. Doncic, on the other hand, doesn’t have that excuse to fall back on. In an exclusive interview with The SportsRush’s Nickeem Khan, Rashad McCants revealed that the majority of Doncic’s defensive woes boil down to effort.
“If you can give me 100% effort on offense, and you only give me 20% effort on defense, I do not want to, one, watch you. I don’t want to play with you. There’s nothing that I can do to look at you that is gonna give me a good feeling. The same way you give me [100%] on offense, you can do it on defense. You just choose not to,” McCants proclaimed.
McCants makes a solid point and the eye test supports that argument. There have been plenty of instances where Doncic refuses to get back on defense to argue with the officials. There have even been moments when the Lakers get the ball back, and Doncic’s attention quickly shifts to scoring. That simply is not acceptable, especially for someone who is the face of the franchise.
What makes Doncic’s defensive effort so confusing is that we have seen him lock in during the Dallas Mavericks’ 2024 NBA Finals run. He held his own on that side of the ball, and it had a direct impact on the team’s success. Effort shouldn’t only come in the midst of success.
“The biggest thing is effort comes from heart,” McCants proclaimed. “Heart comes from the will and the determination, and the discipline to go out there and show you that I’ll work harder than you.”
Talent can only take a player and a team so far; many case studies support that. If Doncic and the Lakers have any serious hopes of building a championship contender in Los Angeles, it will start by taking more pride in working harder than everyone else on the basketball court.
The post EXCLUSIVE: “You Choose Not To”: Rashad McCants Calls Out Luka Doncic For Lack of Defensive Effort appeared first on The SportsRush.
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