Jay Williams Chides Luka Doncic for Having “Losing Habits”

Jay Williams, former NBA player turned pundit, was asked recently in an appearance on ESPN’s First Take for his thoughts on L.A. Lakers star, Luka Doncic. They were not especially complimentary.

A former Duke star and the second overall pick in the 2002 NBA Draft by the Chicago Bulls, Williams saw his playing career cut short by a motorcycle accident. He later became a national college basketball analyst and NBA commentator for ESPN. And it was in this role that, when asked by host Shae Cornette if he trusted Luka to lead a championship team. He did not second-guess his response.

“No,” Williams said. “I think Luka is one of the most talented players I’ve ever seen in the history of the game, but I think he has losing habits. I think he has bad habits. […] His impact on the game is not aligned with the statistical output. You see the crazy numbers, but I don’t know if it impacts winning.”

“He leads the NBA in turnovers per game,” Williams added. “The Lakers are one of the worst transition defenses in the league. So that impacts that aspect of it because they’re not good at that.”

 

Losing Habits Have Not Yet Equalled Losing

Williams would later go on to make an attempt at a more advanced statistical argument, highlighting how amongst the NBA’s highest usage rate players, Doncic has the worst offensive rating. He did not however elaborate on how this was meant to be disqualifying, especially since he said Doncic was tied for last in this stat with Kawhi Leonard – a player who has led his team to an NBA titles.

Clearly, then, Williams’s point about Doncic is not about talent. As he himself acknowledges, Doncic is one of the most productive offensive players of his generation – if he posts a lot of turnovers, it is a by-product of the fact that he does so much else. The concern instead seems to center on habits that, in Williams’s eyes, can limit team ceiling in the postseason. Even if they haven’t.

Emotional management, to be fair, is a factor. Doncic frequently reacts to missed calls and engages officials while play continues, and even brief lapses can create transition advantages for opponents. For a franchise centerpiece, visible frustration can influence team composure – Williams seemingly interprets this as a maturity issue tied to winning at the highest level, and correctly identifies the Lakers as having a poor transition defense, something which is only further hindered by having one of their players jogging back slowly complaining.

However, prior to joining the Lakers, Doncic led the Dallas Mavericks to a Western Conference finals and later to an NBA Finals appearance. Those runs required elite shot making and control under pressure. It is difficult to label a player with deep playoff success as inherently tied to losing. For a player with “losing habits”, he does not lose much.

Doncic’s Pre-Lakers Successes

Later in the discussion, Williams railed against how much Doncic can be seen complaining to referees about what he perceives as missed foul calls, which he views as a slant on Doncic’s leadership abilities.

You see him every single play screaming at the refs, yelling at the refs, and not even getting back in the frame defensively. I know a lot of the talk is going to be about LeBron [James]. A lot going be talking is how they can play together, but at some point, I think he’s one of the most talented players, I just don’t know if he’s the leader that people projecting him to be that actually matches his statistical output.”

Williams is far from alone in critiquing how much Doncic argues with the referees, with Zach Lowe joining the many voices complaining – with irony noted – about how much Luka complains. They are all right that it is very annoying to watch. It does not however automatically serve as a reflection of one’s leadership. And when it comes to leadership, perhaps the best measure comes in what a player has actually won.

At every level under the NBA, Doncic has been a winner. He led his formerly uncompetitive Slovenia team to a 2017 EuroBasket title and a fourth=placed finish at the 2020 Olympic Games – their first-ever appearance – while winning everything possible with Real Madrid at the club level. He has yet to win an NBA title, of course, but he took a backcourt of Josh Green and Tim Hardaway to an NBA Finals appearance as recently as 2024. Williams could argue that winning at the NBA level is somehow different from Doncic’s pre-NBA achievements. But he knows that no better than you or I do.

If the Lakers do not compete for a championship any time soon, it seems unlikely that Luka Doncic’s turnover rate and vociferous complaining will be the reasons why. Instead, the Lakers’ poor defense will. And if Williams’s concerns about Doncic’s “losing habits” referred to that end of the court, they may have resonated more.

Mark Deeks I am continuously intrigued by the esoterica and minutiae of all the aspects of building a basketball team. I want to understand how to build the best basketball teams possible. No, I don’t know why, either. More about Mark Deeks