Luka Doncic complaining to refs is a problem. Is it responsible for killing the Mavericks' transition D?

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic is one of the best basketball players in the world. But he is also one of the biggest complainers.

Mostly due to his tendency to make his thoughts known to officials, Doncic finished with the second-most technical fouls of all players in the league this past season. This is a notable trend that has continued again so far in 2021-22.

During a recent game against the New Orleans Pelicans, the Slovenian-born superstar was caught on camera saying “Oh my God, the refs are bad!” loud enough to get picked up crystal clear on the television broadcast.

Maybe that was fine under the previous regime when Rick Carlisle was in charge. But head coach Jason Kidd isn’t happy with this tendency from his star.

According to Kidd, the Dallas superstar is hesitant to get back on defense because he is too busy disputing calls (via HoopsHype):

“I would lean towards playing five on five a little bit more . You’re not going to get any calls. Officials, they tend not to stop the game to change calls. So you’d have to understand . . that there’s a point in time in games, dead ball, to be able to talk to the officials. But while the game is going on, transition defense is one of the things that we’ve talked about, that we have to get better. If we’re lobbying for calls during live play, it puts us in harm’s way.”

While it’s hard to quantify whether or not that has been an issue in the flow of a game, because no statistic tells us exactly what happens after Doncic disputes a decision, we can dissect similar moments with the numbers that we do have available to us.

The eye test suggests Doncic is often slow to get back on defense, especially after complaining about a call. You can watch that unfold after driving to the basket against the Denver Nuggets. He waits under the basket and he doesn’t get back on defense until the shot is already up:

However, we can actually examine how quickly Doncic is moving on the defensive end of the floor with numbers.

Of course, this is an imperfect science because this looks at all defensive measurements, not just immediately after he throws his hands up in disgust. When averaged out to the course of the season and then compared to the rest of the league, though, it gives us a more clear picture of how big a priority it is for him to zip back for coverage.

Ultimately, tracking stats tell us Donic is averaging 3.4 miles per hour on defense. That is the sixth-slowest in the league (minimum: 100 minutes) and everyone who has been slower (Chris Paul, James Harden, LeBron James, Eric Gordon, Kyle Lowry) is at least 32 years old. For those keeping track at home, that means they are all a full decade older than Doncic.

This could have at least something to do with his conditioning. He reportedly showed up to training camp 30 pounds heavier than his listed weight and he admits that maybe he relaxed too much.

The reason why the speed is a problem for Doncic now is that if opponents know that he is busy complaining to officials, as Kidd explained, they can hunt mismatches by sprinting back in transition.

Pay close attention to Doncic at this possession against the Pelicans and you can see him get visibly upset about a no-call after his pass from the high pick and roll.

New Orleans then exploits the extra second they had without him playing defense — you never see him on the other side of the floor — and used it to score a basket.

Doncic acknowledges that his coach has a point and he needs to stop trying to make the refs change their minds. But this is a trend that has continued all season long.

Kidd is not just complaining about this for the sake of it. It has actual implications during the court of the game.

Rivals are doing whatever they can to create 5-on-4 opportunities while Doncic is complaining to refs. Teams playing against the Mavericks are averaging just 9.4 seconds between shots after defensive rebounds. That ranks as the second-fastest in the NBA, per Inpredictable.

This can happen after steals and turnovers, too. Watch the possession below and note how much ground Fred VanVleet is able to cover against the Mavericks after a steal while Doncic is busy trying to track down officials:

According to Cleaning the Glass, when Dallas allows a steal, opponents are able to turn it into a transition finish 26.9 percentage points more often when he is on than when he is off. That figure actually amounts to the biggest on-off swing of any player in the league.

So while there are drastic implications, the question then becomes how consequential that really is for Dallas?

The reality is that so far this season, per Synergy, only three teams in the Western Conference have allowed fewer points per game in transition. More often than not, when Doncic is complaining, it’s actually a quick interaction and doesn’t have much impact on the flow of the game.

For example, if you watch his complaint in the first quarter against the Sacramento Kings, you’ll notice that while Doncic definitely gets in the ear of the referee. But he still manages to cover De’Aaron Fox while in the open floor.

The bigger issue, it seems, is that he is slower than his opponents even when he is running at full speed. At least, that was the case when the Mavericks had the Clippers in overtime.

Doncic received criticism about his quickness on defense long before he ever came to the NBA. He simply isn’t someone who can afford to take any extra time to make his opinions known because he doesn’t have the same burst that other NBA players often have.

When the Mavericks have allowed points in transition, it often comes from a poor effort — like when he fully gave up on a play after this steal from Bulls guard Alex Caruso that led to a 360 dunk from Zach LaVine.

Almost any basketball fan and analyst would agree that Doncic probably does complain too often when he is on the floor.

While the numbers suggest that it might have an impact on the game, it has only very rarely led to an actual scoring possession from his opponents. He might want to stop upsetting officials to keep a good face, but hey, at least he is playing with passion.