With five minutes still left before halftime, JJ Redick called a timeout for the Lakers. The body language of the Lakers exiting the floor was concerning. As they took the exhausted walk, Luka Doncic was still upset with the officials for not calling fouls in the last few possessions, a sight we’ve seen far too often. Disappointed with his approach in the game, former Lakers star Robert Horry called out the Slovenian superstar.

Doncic is, without doubt, an elite scorer from every area on the floor, and he has also mastered the art of going to the free-throw line. In the five games before the Milwaukee Bucks matchup, he was averaging 14.2 free throw attempts per game. On Friday night, Doncic started with a perfect 2-2 from the floor. However, he missed the next seven shots, causing obvious frustration for a player of his caliber.

What followed was Luka constantly hunting for fouls as he struggled to convert his shot attempts. By the end of the game, he went 8 of 25 from the floor and missed half of his free throws. In the postgame analysis on Spectrum Sports, Horry didn’t shy away from calling out Doncic for foul hunting instead of hunting for good shots.

“Going back to the earlier clip where you saw Luka making those shots. All those shots he took were good shots. I would love to see the shots that he missed,” Horry said. “Because one of the things that upsets me about Luka is his game is predicated on getting fouls called. And the refs don’t give him a call, he starts hunting even more to try to prove the refs wrong.”

“You’re too good of a basketball player to hunt for fouls. Just take the shot. You take the shot, you go nine times out of ten, make the shot. And I would love to say, okay, let me look at these shots that he missed. Were they hunting shots or did he just miss shots? He was hunting tonight.”

Horry was disappointed about how an off-night impacted Doncic’s game throughout the loss. But he wasn’t the only one in the studio disappointed with Doncic’s approach. Lakers legend James Worthy had a similar take.

“I think he’s searching for calls. He’s not getting ’em. … Just come out, play a little more aggressive. Don’t look for the fouls. Play the game,” said Worthy.

Despite Doncic struggling to score, the Lakers had a lead in the second quarter before the Bucks went on a run to close the first half with a nine-point lead. LeBron James helped the Lakers take the lead in the fourth quarter, but Doncic’s nightmare was nowhere close to ending. With the game tied at 101-101 with 16 seconds remaining in the regulation, Doncic fouled Kevin Porter Jr. on a three-point attempt, which was his 6th foul of the night. The Lakers eventually went on to lose.

Has Luka Doncic been depending too much on drawing fouls?

If Shai Gilgeous-Alexander were paid a dollar for every time a fan called him a foul baiter, he would perhaps be making more money than his NBA salary. However, the statistics tell the same narrative for Luka Doncic if his numbers are closely analysed. The difference in fouls drawn per game between Doncic and SGA is more than one would expect without looking at the numbers. Luka leads with 9.0 fouls drawn per game, compared to SGA’s 6.1, which ranks 9th in the league.

The Slovenian star also leads the league in free throw attempts, averaging 12.0 per game. The closest player to him is Deni Avdija, who averages 9.9 per game. Shai averages 9.2 attempts per game, and the numbers don’t sit in congruence with the “free-throw merchant” narrative. Perhaps the Thunder star’s viral facial expressions have become more convincing to fans.

Nobody is saying that Luka Doncic is not one of the greatest offensive players in NBA history. However, just like the Lakers legends said, overreliance on referees to call fouls every time he wants is not the best way for the Lakers to benefit from his greatness.

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