06-20-2021, 02:18 PM
(06-20-2021, 01:49 PM)omahen Wrote: There was one predraft rumor Luka is a Diva and not liked by teammates. Nothing like that was heard in Europe. I just discussed with a bunch of friends on Friday and no one thinks the report is (was) true. Sure we are Luka homers but also follow basketball a lot so someone might hear something if there was real fire behind.
There was no report of Luka being a Diva since he came to US. Sure he wants to win so he complained over some decisions he thought were wrong. Is that being a Diva? I don't think so. Does he perhaps complains too much? Might be, but sure he always took (public) accountability.
All in all Luka is a 22 year old kid. Anyone who thinks it is wise to give all the power to such a kid is wrong. I don't think Luka has any problem with anyone as long as he sees the person knows what he is doing. He is not here to be the coach or GM, he is here to play basketball.
Anyone who thinks a 22 year old kid should be the most mature person on the team is dead wrong. As good as Luka is at playing basketball he is still a 22 year old kid. So please stop trying to turn him into something he is not (a 30 year vet) and rather bring in a couple of vets to steer the ship the right way. Sort of what Atlanta (Bogi, Gallo, Rondo - Williams) or Phoenix (CP3, bunch of exception money vets) did.
Luka apparently did have issues with RC and also mocked RC as to whether RC or Bob was in charge. Whether we agree with everything RC did or not, he was a championship coach who was widely respected for his basketball mind. If that was not good enough for a 22 year old, which coach will be?
Even if you put everything else aside as heresy , Luka came out of shape. There is no debate on that. He also put very little effort on defense. He seemed to get better a little bit over the season, but part of his 4th quarter struggles in the playoffs probably had a lot to do with his fitness. Let us not forget that a 22 year old came out of shape.
So to me it is irrelevant what Luka was in Europe or not. Things change and going from the possibility of being the next great star before he got to the NBA to actually realizing that and getting widespread acclaim, are two different things. He is a great talent but there are definite signs of immaturity there that he has to address. We don’t need to go and check his past when that evidence is right there in front of us. I said the same thing about KP when the Mavs got him and everyone here was saying how the Knicks were a dumpster fire and that’s why KP wanted out of there. I said then that whatever the past evidence with the Knicks were, they did go out of their way to placate KP and the way he treated them was not correct. We saw KP’s pouting this year. I see similar signs with Luka. He needs to change.