Over the years, Lu Dort has been one of the Oklahoma City Thunder’s best players. He might not be the best offensive player, but he makes up for that with his impressive defensive impact. Dort is a physical defender, and unfortunately, he can stretch too far sometimes.
This has led to him getting called for multiple flagrant fouls throughout his career, which is headlined by the ones he committed against Nikola Jokic this season. At times, he can get with some of the physical defense he played, which was highlighted by Boston Celtics superstar Jaylen Brown recently.
Jaylen Brown feels Lu Dort gets away with too much physical defense
Brown has grown from being one of the league’s premier defenders to becoming a legitimate two-way superstar. He is the Celtics’ go-to guy now because Jayson Tatum is still adjusting to his post-Achilles normalcy. He could return to his #1 role, but for now, Brown is the top dog.
Despite playing more of a scorer now, he is still an elite two-way player. He knows that, which is why he considers himself as the best two-way player or at least the second-best behind Victor Wembanyama. So, Brown knows what it takes to be a premier defender in the NBA.
That is why he is criticizing the referees for letting go of their whistles when it comes to Dort’s physicality. Everyone knows that Dort is a fantastic defender, but he does get away with some physicality that should be fouls.
Unfortunately for Dort, Brown made sure to talk about it with video clips as proof. This included a time when he contested Brown’s shot at the rim, and he hit Brown upside the head.
“Dang. They weren’t about to call this, too. Bro snapped me upside the head, I’m tight. Bro smacked me upside the head like I was one of his grandkids or something,” Brown said on his Twitch stream about Dort’s defense.
Moving forward, there will be a spotlight on Dort when he plays defense. He is getting more and more noticed by the referees now, and that is not a good sign for the quality of the Thunder’s defense in the future. They still have Alex Caruso and Cason Wallace, but Dort playing more conservative defense is not good.