There’s a reason he’s guarded the most isos

Tiny sample size

Also, last year he started out as a positive defender and then was back to his old ways by the time the season wore on

He has all the tools both physically and mentally, it’s a question of if his motor can keep up and if he puts the effort in.

I wouldn’t be surprised to see him put together a decent defensive season if Kyrie can share enough of the load offensively for him to expend less energy.

no

Hes been a top 10 defender since 2021. This sub just hates him

James Harden has a better defensive rating than Luka this season so there’s your answer

I dont think on ball defense is an issue for Doncic, but off ball has been, at least before this season

You have to consider matchup difficulty otherwise these stats mean nothing. It makes a big difference if he’s defending isos by Curry and Fox than if it were Royce O’Neal.

Trae Young, best 1-4 defender?

Luka passes the eye test as a defender. He slides his feet, puts in effort and contests shots

when he stops forcing his team to defend 5 on 4 because he wants to yell at refs

https://www.nba.com/stats/players/isolation?PerMode=Totals&TypeGrouping=defensive&dir=D&sort=POSS

nba.com shows 19 ISOs against Luka at 1.16 points per possession lol

“How long before Luka can shrug off the terrible defender allegations?”

Never, defensive reputations almost never change. Players who are long since past playing good defense get All-defense nods, players who are looked at as bad defenders to start their careers never shake the reputation.

Luka’s elite defence makes up for his poor offense.

“Elite defender” is definitely a stretch but he’s been solid this season for sure

I would just like to note, there are multiple types of defense. Luka can be legitimately elite at isolation defense and still be bad at all other aspects of defense. That being said, I don’t watch enough Luka to comment further.