20 Second Timeout

Doncic Lets His Game Do His Talking

There are doers and there are talkers. Anyone can be a talker, but only people who have talent, focus, and determination can be doers. Some doers are also talkers, but their talk has meaning only because they are doers. Muhammad Ali, Reggie Jackson, and Deion Sanders are three examples of athletes who earned the right to talk by performing at a high level and winning championships. You may not like what they said or how they said it, but you had to respect their talent, their focus, and their determination. I respect non-talking doers like Julius Erving, Tim Duncan, and Kawhi Leonard, but I also respect Ali, Jackson, and Sanders because they put in the work to make sure that their deeds matched up to their boastful words.

The Dallas Mavericks' second year wunderkind Luka Doncic has not won a championship, but he seems to understand the difference between talking and doing. In game three of Dallas' first round series versus the L.A. Clippers, Montrezl Harrell directed profane comments at Doncic that included a derogatory mentioning of Doncic's skin color. Doncic answered in game four not with talking but with a whole lot of doing: 43 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assists, and a game-winning three point shot at the buzzer during overtime as Dallas defeated L.A. to tie the series at 2-2. Only two other players in NBA playoff history have had a 40-15-10 triple double: Oscar Robertson and Charles Barkley. Doncic also tied Barkley for the second most points scored in a playoff triple double, trailing only Russell Westbrook's 51.

It is interesting that the NBA has not disciplined Harrell, or even issued a public statement condemning what he said and making it clear that his conduct is unacceptable in the NBA. The league has previously issued substantial fines for various comments made by players during games, so the league's silence here is deafening. The NBA has to decide if it opposes demeaning language based on race, religion, sexual preference, or other categories. It is not acceptable that some categories of people are protected while others are not. Various media outlets reported that Harrell's Coach Doc Rivers told Harrell that what Harrell said is not acceptable. We also saw Harrell and Doncic speak to each other before game four. Harrell apologized to Doncic, and Doncic accepted Harrell's apology.

TNT's Charles Barkley rightly decried the NBA's double standard, while Shaquille O'Neal asserted that a different code applies to players during games because in the heat of the moment players say things that they do not really mean. Kenny Smith said that Harrell's remarks could be seen as "racist" but not "racism" because "racism" means that a person has power over another person. Smith said that Harrell has no power to keep Doncic out of the NBA, so Harrell is not engaging in racism. I don't know what Harrell thinks or feels in his mind and in his heart, but a racist comment is a racist comment based on the words and the context, not based on the skin color of the speaker. As Ernie Johnson noted, there is a difference between saying something like "That white boy is bad"--expressing admiration for a white player achieving success in a sport dominated by black players--and saying what Harrell said the way that Harrell said it. We know that Harrell's comment was not a compliment; only Harrell knows if it was a heat of the moment outburst, or an expression of racism--but we know that many times when a person makes a joke or makes a heat of the moment outburst that joke or outburst provides a glimpse into how that person really thinks/feels.

Smith agreed with Barkley that what Harrell said is not acceptable, and he also acknowledged O'Neal's point that NBA players often say things of that nature during games; Smith called this a "habit" that NBA players need to break.

Barkley's point is 100% correct. O'Neal may be right that players often talk like this, but Smith is right that players should stop doing this. Regarding the difference between "racist" and "racism," the dictionary definition of racism is "a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race." There is a movement to redefine racism so that power is an essential component of the definition, but that is a distortion worthy of George Orwell's "1984." We should reject the notion that a person must be exercising power to be a racist; if you judge people based on race (or any characteristic other than their behavior, actions, and accomplishments) then you are a racist and you are engaged in racism. We already have words that encompass the power dynamic: when racism is combined with power then you have persecution and/or discrimination. It is flawed and dangerous thinking to promote the idea that certain people or certain groups of people cannot be racist because those people or those groups have been persecuted in the past or are being persecuted now.

Back to the game, and Doncic's dominance. Doncic was a game-time decision due to the sprained ankle that he suffered in the previous game, but he did not use his injury as an excuse or even talk about it unless he was asked about it. The Mavericks trailed by 21 points in the first half and they were without the services of Kristaps Porzingis--a late scratch due to a knee injury--but they kept battling and playing hard. The Philadelphia 76ers could learn a lot from watching the Mavericks.

Before the series, I picked the Clippers to win in six games because I expected Kawhi Leonard to perform at a high level at both ends of the court while I expected Doncic to perform at a high level only on offense. Doncic is far from being an elite defender like Leonard, but Doncic is so effective as a scorer/rebounder/playmaker that his contributions in those categories more than compensate for any relative defensive deficiencies. I think that the Clippers will win the next two games, but it will not be easy for them, and they could be staring down elimination in game seven if they do not tighten up their defense.

Leonard finished with 32 points, nine rebounds, and four assists. For most players that would be an exceptional performance, but by Leonard's high standards this was not a great game. He shot 10-22 from the field, and he missed a shot that could have won the game in regulation. Leonard had a -13 plus/minus number, suggesting that he did not control the game the way that he usually does. His teammate Lou Williams scored a game-high 36 points off of the bench.

Harrell had two points, one rebound, and one assist in 17 minutes. Paul George also had a "triple single": nine points, eight rebounds, three assists. George shot 3-14 from the field. Poor shooting has been a pattern for George throughout the series and, indeed, throughout his playoff career. At some point, this is not a "slump," but it is just who you are. Only a few games ago, George made fun of Damian Lillard for missing two free throws in a late game situation, and I suggested that a player who has never won anything is not an authority on what it takes to win. More recently, George provided a profane reply on social media to anyone who criticized his playoff performances. Remember, George gave himself the nickname "Playoff P." Giving yourself a nickname rarely turns out well, and is inadvisable for anyone who has never won anything of substance; George has never reached the NBA Finals, and his career playoff field goal percentage is .418, including four playoff campaigns (out of nine) during which he shot worse than .400. George's field goal percentage through four games versus Dallas is below .300, so I don't want to see him at press conferences or on social media or in advertisements; the only place he should be seen outside of a game is in a gym working on his broken shooting stroke.

I picked the Clippers to win the 2020 NBA championship, and I stand by that selection not because of George or Harrell but because I believe in Kawhi Leonard and Doc Rivers. However, I wonder if Kawhi Leonard looks at his focused, tough-minded former teammates in Toronto and possibly regrets his decision to abandon them to move to L.A.

The bottom line is that Paul George and Montrezl Harrell have combined to win zero championships. Why are they talking? George and Harrell need to talk less and do more. If Doncic were so inclined, he could provide a one word retort to Harrell and any other mouthy Clippers: "Scoreboard."

Labels: Dallas Mavericks, Kawhi Leonard, L.A. Clippers, Luka Doncic, Montrezl Harrell, Paul George

posted by David Friedman @ 3:40 AM

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