Former Laker slams Luka Doncic for glaring Mavericks flaw that still haunts him

Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic's complaining to referees has been the topic of discussion lately among NBA fans, and former Lakers guard and three-time Sixth Man of the Year winner Lou Williams recently gave his opinion on the matter.

"It affects winning," Williams said about Doncic's whining to referees. "You hate to see, in a good game, a guy stops and complains to a referee, and then give up a layup on a five-on-four because of that."

Dallas Mavericks fans know this well, as Doncic's arguing with referees was one of his biggest weaknesses during his six and a half years with the team. It even led to his teammates trying to get him to stop, and this part of his game was one of Nico Harrison's biggest gripes about him.

Lou Williams blasts Luka Doncic for his nonstop complaining

Nothing will ever justify Harrison's decision to trade Doncic, but even Mavericks fans can agree that he lets his battle with officials affect his game. He isn't himself when he is fighting for foul calls every time down the floor, and he plays much better when he is just focused on playing freely.

Williams continued to talk about how these instances have a much bigger effect on the game at hand than anyone realizes, and he is 100 percent right. A few possessions can swing the momentum of a game, and every bucket matters.

"Basketball is a game of inches," Williams said. "You lose by one point because you give up possession after possession after possession worrying about referees."

Williams noted that this part of his game is something that everyone has wanted him to improve for some time now, and while he has shown some improvement at times, it's still a major issue. Doncic is consistently near the top of the league in technical fouls, and he has to make considerable changes in his on-court attitude toward referees if he wants to reach his full potential.

Even the biggest of Mavericks fans were critical of Doncic and his game during his time in Dallas. It wasn't because they were nitpicky or selfish. These fans just wanted the best for him and knew that he had another level to reach if he could put all of his focus and energy into playing the game.

Mavericks fans saw how he would fall out of a rhythm when he was too worried about the refs calling every foul, and it would cause him to not hustle back on defense. This would immediately give the other team an advantage, as Williams said, and it often snowballed into a technical foul or Jason Kidd having to call a timeout.

He would make up for these shortcomings on the offensive end, but this flaw was easily fixable. Doncic just never fixed it.

Now the Lakers are having to deal with it, and all of the fire of the NBA media world is raining down on him. Williams' take on Doncic is just the tip of the iceberg, and it's clear that Doncic's worst Mavericks trait has unfortunately followed him to Los Angeles.