NBA bust has embarrassing Luka Doncic take while comparing him to Timberwolves star

The Dallas Mavericks are set to take on the Minnesota Timberwolves in the Western Conference Finals after upsetting the LA Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder in the previous rounds. 

Over the past weeks, the Mavs have proven plenty of critics wrong, with Dereck Lively II recently voicing his opinion on some of the media bias against his team. His statement stems from getting snubbed from the NBA All-Rookie First Team. The media siding against Dallas in awards voting has been a recurring trend this season, as Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving were also robbed of the MVP and Clutch Player of the Year awards.

The Mavs have also defied expectations on defense, displaying that it is nothing to scoff at. Among all playoff squads, they ranked fifth in average allowed points per game, and only the Thunder (43.1 percent) held opponents to a lower field-goal percentage than they did (44.0 percent).

Rashad McCants has embarrassing Luka Doncic take while comparing him to Anthony Edwards

Despite the strides the Mavs, particularly Doncic, have made on defense, Doubting Thomases still remain.

One of those who roasted the Slovenian superstar's defense was Rashad McCants, a regular on the "Gil's Arena" show. The former collegiate standout asserted that what sets Doncic apart from Anthony Edwards is their effort on defense. While he praised Edwards for working hard on that end of the floor when the shots aren't falling, he claimed Doncic "packs it in" during off-nights.

Clearly, McCants hasn't been watching Mavs games in the previous months. While Doncic once developed a reputation as a traffic cone on the perimeter, he has heavily improved on defense this season.

The five-time All-Star even showcased his sturdy defense and strong legs during one matchup against Minnesota in the regular season. He was able to stop Karl-Anthony Towns in single coverages and force Rudy Gobert to turn the ball over in crunch time. 

Perhaps the most prominent evidence of Doncic's stellar work on defense was during Dallas' first-round showdown against the Clippers. Game 2 of that series saw him hold his opponents to 6-24 shooting. Then, in Game 5, he helped the Mavs push James Harden to an embarrassing record: the most playoff contests with more than 10 field-goal attempts and two or fewer makes.

In the conference semifinals, "Luka Magic" was severely hampered by a plethora of injuries. Yet, the Thunder couldn't take advantage of his suboptimal health. To wit, the players he covered the most in the series shot poorly while matched up against him. He held Lu Dort, Jalen Williams, and Cason Wallace to 6-23, 7-20, and 1-4 shooting, respectively.

Of course, Doncic will probably never be an all-world defender and surely never be as athletic as Edwards. But to say that he "packs it in" in that area reeks of lack of knowledge about his game.

Doncic and Edwards begin their matchup against each other tonight, and this series will be must-watch television.

Stay tuned to read more about Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks.