Former Maverick reveals how team really feels about Luka Doncic’s biggest weakness

Before the Dallas Mavericks took on the Boston Celtics in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday night and blew them out, there was a lot of criticism and skepticism thrown at Luka Doncic from the national media because of his defensive struggles as well as the fact that Doncic let the officiating dictate his play throughout certain junctures in the Finals.

Contrary to popular belief, Doncic has proven that he can use his strength to anchor down and become a stout one-on-one defender throughout certain stretches in these playoffs, but Boston's offensive dynamism in their starting lineup has proved to be too challenging for Doncic to keep up with in these Finals. Donc

Doncic has got to continue to be a better defender and not complain to the refs in these Finals as we saw in Game 4 with how often he is on the court if the Mavericks want to even have a puncher's chance at coming back from their 3-1 deficit against Boston, but we can't ignore the fact that Doncic has fought valiantly in these playoffs to sustain a high level of production despite various injuries.

JaVale McGee reveals Mavericks will 'live with' Luka Doncic’s defensive struggles

Doncic isn't a terrible defender by any means, but against one of the best ball-handling rosters in the league in Boston, he has gotten continually exposed earlier in this series in isolation matchups whether it's excusable because of injuries or not. Former Maverick JaVale McGee talked about Doncic's defensive struggles as well as what the Mavericks' attitude toward Doncic's defensive lapses is, as McGee spoke about Doncic on "The Pat McAfee Show" ahead of Dallas' Game 4 win at home.

While McGee didn't knock his former teammate and organization despite having the platform to do so, his comments did reveal Dallas' attitude toward Doncic's defensive struggles, and they are insightful since McGee was on the team just one season ago. In reference to Doncic's defense, McGee said that Dallas will "live with it" as well as "It doesn't matter, because he (Luka) will go out and give you 50."

McGee's comments are semi-alarming if this is Dallas' actual attitude toward Doncic's defense, as Doncic shouldn't be given a free pass on defense from Dallas' coaching staff and front office just because of how unstoppable of an offensive force he can be at times. However, with Doncic proving that his defensive game has ascended this year as well as him being extremely hobbled at this stage in the playoffs, it's more plausible that Boston is just making an injury-riddled Doncic pay on the defensive end like no other team in the league has the ability to do as McGee also referenced.

Hopefully, Doncic can step up on the defensive end in Game 5 once again, as his defensive effort inspires those around him.

For more on Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks in these Finals and potentially looming offseason, stay tuned as we will have you covered.