Samaki Walker calls out Luka for disrespecting the NBA: "He talks about how soft the NBA is, yet he doesn't play any defense" originally appeared on Basketball Network .
During his appearance on the recent "The Coach JB with Smitty" podcast, former Los Angeles Lakers forward Samaki Walker challenged Luka Doncic to back up his much-talked-about body transformation with a better effort on the defensive end of the floor, especially since the Don mocked the NBA with his comment about the league's lack of physicality.
According to Walker, Doncic is one of the best players in the game today, but he also reminded him that basketball is played on both sides of the ball.
"Look, man, the guy is a basketball savant," Walker said of Doncic. "He's special. He's a one-of-a-kind player. We know — real basketball players know and real fans of basketball know that, look, it's a two-way sport. It's offense, defense. You know what I'm saying? And I personally feel — and I love Luka offensively — but I feel like over the couple few years he disrespected the NBA because I follow him. He goes back to Europe and talks about how soft the NBA is, yet he don't play no defense. You know what I'm saying? So, yeah, I take that personal."
It's unclear what Samaki is talking about here because Luka has never called the NBA soft, and even once said it's tougher to play there. What the Slovenian noted a couple of years back, however, was that it is much easier to score a lot of points in the NBA than in Europe.
However, Doncic explained that the reasons why he said that were the difference in rules, spacing, and more game minutes. He particularly mentioned that there is no 3-second violation in Europe, which makes it easier for defenses to protect the paint and tougher for offenses to score easy points.
"So, with that being said," Samaki continued. "I wanna see…if he's in shape and he has the mentality to play defense 'cause, hell, you can get in shape, but it still takes a mentality to play D, you know what I'm saying? And so, is he willing to accept that?"
Similarly, ESPN's Stephen A. Smith said that it is way too early to praise Luka's offseason conditioning program because while you have to credit him for getting in shape, the bigger issue is whether Doncic can keep himself in that physical state and if his offseason conditioning will address his game's weaknesses, including playing defense.
"There's a difference between getting in shape during the offseason and staying in shape during the regular season. And that's something that we have to monitor moving forward," the ESPN analyst explained . "So it's nice to see him prioritize his conditioning because we know that's been an Achilles' heel of his. He's a terrific basketball player; he's a superstar in this league. But how it's going to translate to the basketball court, it's not just about how you look, but the effort that you put forth. And it doesn't end in the offseason. That's when it starts."
It's funny because a couple of days ago, former Mavs assistant coach Marko Milic mentioned that since Doncic's critics — particularly the American media, can no longer lambast him for his lack of conditioning because he looks "like a model" right now , they will find other faults in Luka just so they can continue to criticize him. After all, they will never accept that he is the best player in the world. He may be right.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 8, 2025, where it first appeared.
