Was Colin Cowherd justified in criticizing Lakers' Luka Doncic?

After the Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Boston Celtics over the weekend, analyst Colin Cowherd did not hold back on sharing his feelings about the team while speaking on "The Colin Cowherd Podcast."

While Cowherd was positive about Lakers superstar LeBron James, he was not as kind to the other Lakers superstar, Luka Doncic.

"Even if LeBron had a bad night, he played his a— off. I mean, now is different," Cowherd said. "For 15 years, Kobe, MJ, they had bad shooting nights. They didn’t have bad effort nights or bad commitment nights or bad focus nights. LeBron slowed down at 39 and a half… honestly, Brady could have still played last year. In the NBA, getting in the weight room and really grinding extends your career. LeBron James to this day is a weight room warrior.

"When you watch Luka on a nightly basis… they’re down 11, he gets a bad call, he’s barking at the ref, the Celtics are racing down to the other end of the floor. He is now a more academic player than athletic player and he is 27. LeBron slowed down at 39 and a half."

Breaking down Luka Doncic vs. LeBron James' stats and on-court behavior

In order to be fair, a comparison of Doncic and James' stats should be made. Cowherd said that Doncic is already slowing down, but when you look at the numbers, his stats are on par with James' from the 2011-12 season when James was 27. 

James averaged 27.1 points, 7.9 rebounds and 6.2 assists while shooting 53.1 percent from the field. At 26, Doncic is posting 32.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 8.6 assists on 46.8 percent shooting. Doncic has maybe even a slight edge, so to say he is slowing down makes little sense.

Cowherd indicated that Doncic would argue with referees while the other team was up the court with the ball. Any player, regardless of being a leader, is known to argue a call. James is known to stay back to lobby for calls instead of getting back on defense. Both James and Doncic are known to oversell contact exaggeratedly to draw fouls. 

The reality is that both can be seen as drama queens at times on the court, but in their defense, they attempt to help their team out. If Cowherd is going to call Doncic unprofessional, he needs to point the finger at James as well.

Is Colin Cowherd wearing rose-colored glasses when it comes to LeBron James?

To say that Cowherd has blindly defended James may be an overstatement, but he has been a staunch supporter of him for sure. Throughout James' career, Cowherd has come to his defense numerous times. 

Cowherd came to his defense about his losing record in the NBA Finals and put the blame on the weaker rosters early in James' career. When discussing who the GOAT of the NBA is, Cowherd has argued that James' passing, longevity and versatility were better than Michael Jordan's, putting him seemingly in Camp LeBron. 

While much of what Cowherd said about Doncic is true, he seems to be looking at James through rose-colored glasses, as James is guilty of every charge he has accused Doncic of. When Cowherd criticizes Doncic for the same habits that James has displayed throughout his NBA career, it just goes to show that Cowherd's analysis of a player simply comes down to what name is on the back of the jersey.