Luka Doncic wears you down. He does it with his step-back jump shot, with his awesome instincts in the box, with his passing… and with his whining and crying with every damn shot he makes, except maybe during warmups.

“He has to be the biggest crybaby in the league,” marveled Knicks TV commentator Walt Frazier two seasons ago.

To be fair to Frazier, I don't think he was disrespectful to Draymond “Tech Machine” Green. Green doesn't cry, he roars like a wounded lion.

Doncic is crying. He's crying like a river. He's probably crying more than LeBron James, who was safely inducted into the Crybaby Hall of Fame on the first ballot.

That's a shame, because Doncic can also play basketball. The man is a real offensive genius, a slow player who can't jump over a marked line, but can fire a good shot over anyone at any time.

Doncic is on the biggest stage in his history, the NBA Finals, where legacies are created. For many people, this is their first real look at the Mavericks miracle and why he led the league in scoring. And why Frazier called him the King of Cry.

Crying has become a hallmark of Doncic's game and personality. That's sad. And unnecessary. Only one player in the NBA, Giannis Antetokounmpo, has shot more free throws than Doncic this season.

Doncic's 8.7 free throws per game were double Stephen Curry's percentage (4.4). Curry cries a lot too, but he's nowhere near the same league as Luka.

Michael Jordan played 15 seasons and received 34 technical fouls. Doncic has 36 of them in the last two seasons.

I know not everyone can be like Mike Conley, the fierce guard who played 18 NBA seasons and 1,194 games without a jersey, but crying with a contrite face every time he makes a shot?

In fairness, Doncic is crying more and more often, especially in basketball and baseball. The NBA encourages crying by instructing referees to calmly accept the anguished protests and even to lend a listening ear to the players and coaches.

How often do you see in baseball that a batter who has thrown a strike simply walks away? First, the angry batter must organize a one-man protest rally. Often, the television replay, using strike zone computer technology, will show that the pitch was actually a strike, making the protester look stupid. But there is no shame, only anger.

Do you know how many times Willie Mays was ejected from a game for whining about a referee's call? Zero. In 2,992 games. Can you imagine how many times Mays was grossly ripped off on a ball-strike call?

Also never ejected: Joe DiMaggio, Stan Musial, Derek Jeter, Curt Flood, Ted Williams. Ted Williams! Defiant and arrogant, scanning the pitches with x-ray vision, Williams was never ejected for complaining about a decision.

But today, banjo hitters with a batting average of .210 chirp at the umpire with every pitch.

So you could say Doncic is a child of the “Cryin' 20s,” a product of his time.

As I watched Sunday's game, which the Mavs lost 2-0 to the Celtics, I took a few notes. This is just the first half:

• Doncic was caught trying to drive through three defenders and raised his arms to protest the dismissal.

• He landed a fallaway jump shot without obviously touching the defender, yet still yelled at the nearest referee.

• During a timeout, Doncic stopped on his way off the court to protest to referee Tony Brothers.

• Doncic never seems to have learned to box out. (I know we're talking about crying, but as I focus on him, I notice other things.)

• Doncic is one of the least active and least enthusiastic defensive players you will see.

• Doncic hit a shot, got no whistle, and as he trotted back onto the court (he never runs), he glared over his shoulder at the referee. In fairness, insiders say Doncic has broken his habit of staying in the backcourt and barking at the referee while the action shifts to the other end.

• During another timeout we saw another extensive consultation between Luka and a referee. He was to hold his own referee seminar.

I understand, emotions are part of the game, they add to the spectacle and are part of NBA tradition. Charles Barkley once said his favorite white wine was Danny Ainge. Magic Johnson was known as a happy player, but Magic could cry.

Johnny Most, the late Celtics' commentator, was always nagging about Johnson's crying. For an entire game, Most referred to Johnson as “Crybaby.” Crybaby dribbles into the frontcourt, throws the ball to Kareem on the low block, back to Crybaby, Crybaby drives down the lane…

The NBA coach who cried the most of all time was Celtics legend Red Auerbach, who was kicked out of an All-Star game. That's like getting kicked out of your kid's third-grade play for cursing at the director.

So, sure, the whining, crying and raging can be colorful. But, man, it gets boring.

Doncic doesn't have to cry to be great. Five seasons ago, as a 19-year-old rookie, Doncic collected just five technical fouls, but was still Rookie of the Year. Unfortunately, he quickly outgrew his maturity and aged in reverse – the Benjamin Button of basketball.

Come on, Luka, give your tear ducts a break and let us appreciate your greatness.

Reach Scott Ostler: [email protected]; Twitter: @scottostler