Luka Dončić called 'Hall of Fame ball hog' by analyst
03/25/2025 09:33 PM
After consecutive Los Angeles Lakers losses, FS1's Chris Broussard delivered a withering critique of Luka Dončić. During his first month in Los Angeles, Dončić has been given an extended grace period to get on track, but the scrutiny, expectations, and even the demerits are magnified in the L.A. media bubble.
"Luka Dončić is a ball hog. A great ball hog. A Hall of Fame ball hog – future Hall of Famer. An all-time elite ball hog. He is a ball hog.” Broussard proclaimed on First Thing's First. Broussard's remarks also signaled that his media honeymoon may be nearing its conclusion.
"This was ridiculous. You got all these guys just standing there watching you," Broussard exclaimed, motioning at a screen-grab of Dončić dribbling on the perimeter. “He took nine shots in the first quarter. Okay. And actually, he took four or five free throws so he probably took 11 shots in the first quarter."
Broussard's criticism of Dončić is an about-face from his initial take on Dončić’s assimilation into the Lakers lineup. Three weeks ago, Broussard picked these Lakers to win the West. However, since ascending to the No. 2 seed following a 10-2 February, Los Angeles has come crashing back down to Earth. In March, Los Angeles has gone 6-7.
Early in his Lakers tenure, Dončić was more deferential than usual. During his first month with L.A., Dončić averaged a meager 22.9 points, a sharp decrease from the 28.5 points he manufactured on a nightly basis in Dallas. The thought process was that Dončić would be less of a gunner while buying more into a playmaking Luka Magic (Johnson) role whipping outlandish passes to others, but that hasn't come to fruition quite yet.
It’s one thing to be ball-dominant to set the table. It’s another thing entirely to excessively pound the leather and Dončić may be walking that Harden line between ball hog and ball dominant.
“When you are going five-out and everyone is standing there watching you operate and LeBron James is a teammate. That ain't good,” added Broussard. “Look at LeBron. He’s treating LeBron like Chris Bosh and Kevin Love felt."
Luka Doncic’s defense
Broussard also correlated Dončić’s extreme ball dominance to the defensive collapse. On Saturday, the Lakers surrendered 146 points in a 31-point loss to the Chicago Bulls. On Monday, the Orlando Magic, the NBA's lowest-scoring team, mashed them by 12 in a 118-106 final. Dončić scored 32 in both matchups.
"This is related to the defense. Because when you are just watching one guy operate and you're standing there watching him do all this and take sometimes– but even he's making some of 'em. But they're bad shots that take away from your morale. Especially when that guy can't defend."
Broussard's comments may be an overreaction, but Dončić has led the league in usage rate three times in the past five years. He's tried fitting in, but at some point, you have to acknowledge that a tiger can't completely change his stripes. When it comes to Luka Laker, they've got to take the good with the bad.
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