The Los Angeles Lakers have struggled to maintain their momentum after a strong start to the season, with much of the blame attributed to the team’s subpar defense. With one of the worst defensive ratings in the league, the blame has now fallen upon Lakers superstar Luka Doncic.

“Why can’t he just play better defense?” Michelle Beadle, the Run It Back host, questioned after the Lakers’ win against the Memphis Grizzlies, with tension spilling out as the host cut through the usual context. “Buy in, dude, buy in. Don’t you want to be like, if you want to be the greatest of all time…”

It wasn’t framed as a flaw or a missing skill, but a conscious decision, something Doncic could truly address if he really wanted to. The conversation quickly shifted to the idea of defensive effort and how, throughout his career, Doncic has displayed a lack of it on the defensive end.

In fact, this was one of the main reasons leading to Doncic’s trade from the Dallas Mavericks in February last year, with former GM Nico Harrison publicly criticizing Doncic’s lack of defense and conditioning before infamously proclaiming “defense wins championships.” Of course, that sentiment does have some merit.

According to Cleaning the Glass, this season, Doncic allows, on average, 0.3 more points per possession when he’s on the court, which falls into the 47th percentile of all players, while logging a -2.4% Turnover% (6th percentile!), which means that the Lakers force significantly fewer turnovers with him on the court.

Many of these metrics are due to a poorer team construction around him, but they only compound already present issues within his playing style.

“It’s hard for me to say somebody is one of the greatest to ever do something if you’re doing half of it,” Beadle continued. “Why aren’t we buying into all of it? That’s what I don’t get.”

But recently, things seem to be changing.

Luka Doncic’s Effort is Beginning to Match the Standard His Critics Demand Finally

The most telling praise that Luka Doncic has received on his defense this year has come from his teammate, veteran guard and former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart. After the Lakers faced off against the New Orleans Pelicans, Smart pointed right at Doncic’s effort.

“If we had to show one prime example to be [Doncic and Dalton Knecht],” Smart said. “We asked a lot of Luka on that offensive end, and obviously, we’re demanding a lot of them defensively… To see him giving that effort, it only energizes everybody else.”

The difference showed up against the Pelicans. Both Doncic and Knecht took one charge each during the game, something Smart highlighted as “sacrificing” his body for the win.

This was precisely the kind of play that his critics have been waiting to see for years, because it signals a deeper level of buy-in from an offensively tilted star.

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Whether this becomes a pattern remains to be seen, obviously. One charge isn’t going to rewrite the narrative, but it’s a start. If Doncic can commit to moments like this instead of being indifferent, the conversation will start shifting.