‘Selfish’ Stephen A. Smith Gives 4-Minute Live Speech on First Take About Mavericks Star Being Blamed for Loss to Celtics

FIRST Analyst Stephen A. Smith unloaded on Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic following their 106-99 loss in Game 3 of the 2024 NBA Finals.

The 6-foot-5 guard’s inefficiency and negligence proved costly Wednesday night as Dallas lost 3-0 to the Boston Celtics in the series.

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Doncic, 25, finished the night with 27 points, six rebounds, six assists and one steal.

He spent the final four minutes of the match on the bench after committing a foul as Dallas tried to come back from a double-digit deficit, adding to the Slovenian’s difficult night.

The next morning, Stephen A., 56, showed no mercy to the third overall pick.

“Of course Luka deserves most of the blame for this. [loss],” Smith said on First Take.

“It was a horrible performance. 27 points on 27 shots.

“But it wasn’t because of that. It was because of the level of selfishness and lack of responsibility.

“You are the star of the team. You should be the team leader.

Smith called Doncic “petulant” and “petty,” saying the five-time All-Star committed some of his six fouls out of frustration because the game wasn’t going his way.

He also said the Mavericks guard was “pointing the finger at anyone alone” while yelling at coach Jason Kidd to challenge the charge he was called on that would get him ejected.

And Stephen A highlighted that the Slovenian has been committing costly late-game fouls and turnovers continuously since the start of the finals.

Smith echoed his ESPN colleague Brian Windhorst’s criticism of Doncic, who said the Mavs leader’s performance was “unacceptable” because of his lack of defensive effort after the game.

“I’m here in the Mavericks tunnel. That’s the Celtics tunnel,” Windhorst said.

“That’s where the winners are. If Luka wants to be a winner coming out of this tunnel here, he’s going to have to use what happened in these finals as a learning experience.

“His defensive performance is unacceptable. He’s a hole in the court.

“[The Celtics] They’re ahead in this series because they attacked him defensively.”

Meanwhile, Doncic attacked the referees in the post-game press conference.

“We couldn’t play physically,” he said when asked about the refereeing.

“I don’t know. I don’t want to say anything.”

“But six fouls in the NBA Finals, I’m basically like this,” Doncic added, opening his arms.

“Come on, man. Be better than that.”

Game 4 takes place on Friday, kicking off at 8:30 pm ET.