2x NBA champion gives hot take on Luka Doncic vs Jayson Tatum in quickly deleted post: "It's not close"

Luka Doncic and Jayson Tatum have been pitted against each other by fans since the Boston Celtics won the 2024 NBA championship against the Dallas Mavericks. Doncic and Tatum have been their respective teams’ anchors on offense, leading them to conference titles last year.

This season, the debate between the two superstars continued, with two-time NBA champion guard Quinn Cook airing his hot take on the head-to-head matchup.

Cook, who won a title with the Golden State Warriors and the LA Lakers, said that Tatum shouldn't be compared with Luka Doncic, citing the Celtics star’s fortitude against adversity compared to the Mavericks star.

“Luka (is) one of my favorite players ever, but I watched him quit his tonight. Stop comparing that man to Tatum. It’s not close,” he wrote in a now-deleted post on X.

On Tuesday night in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, Doncic put up 16 points on 5-of-15 shooting as the Mavericks failed to advance to the semifinals, losing to the Western Conference top-seed Oklahoma City Thunder. While he struggled on the offensive end, he remained an impactful player in the Mavericks’ defeat with 11 rebounds, five assists and four steals.

Luka Doncic's performance was a far cry from his usual numbers, as he averaged 28.1 points, 8.4 rebounds and 7.9 assists per game this season.

Meanwhile, Tatum has been a consistent contributor for the defending champion Celtics, averaging 28.2 points, 8.9 rebounds and 5.7 assists per game as Boston occupies the second seed with a 19-5 win-loss record.

Cook has been out of the NBA since the 2020-21 season, last playing with the Cavaliers. He was a part of the 2018 Warriors championship squad led by Steph Curry and Kevin Durant before joining the Lakers in the 2020 season en route a second title bannered by LeBron James and Anthony Davis' dominance.

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Jayson Tatum expresses great respect to Luka Doncic before NBA Finals clash

Jayston Tatum appreciates greatness when he's in front of it, as he expressed great respect to Luka Doncic during a matchup in 2022, two years before the Mavericks and Celtics’ NBA Finals clash.

“Everyone knows how talented and how special he is. He did so many things on the court. Somebody I respect and like competing against… We just have fun competing against each other,” Tatum said.

The two have been in the MVP conversations once more this season, but they remain trailing behind other favorites, like the reigning MVP Nikola Jokic.

The two stars’ matchup will have to wait, as the Celtics and the Mavericks won't face each other in the regular season until Jan. 26 before meeting again on February 7.