In examining his third appearance in the NBA All-Star game in just his fourth season in the league, Luka Doncic
reached this conclusion during Saturday’s Media Day on the shores of Lake Erie.
“It’s more for the people that can really dunk,” the Dallas Mavericks’ superstar point guard said. “People don’t come here to watch me.”
Maybe so, maybe no. But for those fans near and far who have had the pleasure to watch Doncic play, they know he’s going to put on a show whenever he’s on the court.
Just ask New Orleans Pelicans coach Willie Green.
After Doncic rung up 49 points, 15 rebounds and eight assists on the Pelicans during the Mavs’ 125-118 triumph over New Orleans this past Thursday, Green wryly said: “Luka’s not playing!”
Green laughed, then added: “He’s a great player and we have to give him his credit. He came in here and he dominated the game.”
Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Russell Westbrook, James Harden and now Doncic are the only players in NBA history who have put up an impressive 49-point, 15-rebound, eight-assist stat line. But joining some of the game’s greats have become just as routine for Doncic as the cup of coffee he frequently enjoys.
Opponents have always brought more fight to the table whenever they face Doncic. They even, sometimes, gang up on the 6-7, 230-
pound point guard and send a plethora of players in his direction in an attempt to get him under control and off his game.
But Doncic uses his eagle eyes to fight off double-teams and make the correct basketball play that leads to a basket.
During a recent game against Philadelphia while he was still playing for the 76ers before they traded him to Brooklyn, guard Seth Curry discussed how Doncic “was a big struggle” for Philly after the Mavs’ prodigal child finished with 33 points, 13 rebounds and 15 assists.
“He was doing everything — picking us apart on the defensive end, scoring, getting his teammates involved (and) getting to the paint,” Curry said. “When he missed, guys would come over and contest.
“He was just doing what he wanted out there. It was just tough sledding for us.”
It’s been tough sledding for a lot of folks who have come face-to-face with Doncic, especially in recent weeks in the run up to Sunday’s All-Star game in Cleveland, which starts at 7 p.m. Over the last 10 games, Doncic is averaging 35.4 points, 10.3 rebounds and 9.8 assists while shooting 48.8 percent from the field and 43.3 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
Even more astonishing, Doncic has averaged a remarkable 41.5 points, 12.3 rebounds and seven assists while making 47.8 percent of his shots and 45.8 percent of his three-pointers during the past four games. And he’s been so efficient that he’s eclipsed the 45-point barrier three times in the last four games, including pouring in a career-high 51 points during a Feb. 10 contest against the Los Angeles Clippers.
In that game against the Clippers, Doncic was 7-of-9 from three-point range in a first quarter that saw him torch LA for an amazing
28 points.
“I didn’t think he was going to get that hot, but you know he had it going,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “I think those are tough shots he took, but he did a great job of playing the game.”
Lue credits coach Jason Kidd with taking Doncic’s game to a higher level, and with making sure Jalen Brunson initiates the offense more so Doncic can be fresher in the fourth quarter.
“I think that J-Kidd has done a great job of just moving him around, too,” Lue said, referring to Doncic. “He is off the ball now coming around corners into DHOs (dribble handoffs).
“Just moving around a whole lot more, and he just can’t lock into coming down the middle and coming off a pick-and-roll every time.”
An even deeper dive into the evolution of Doncic shows that he’s sixth in the league in scoring (27.5), 17th in rebounding (9.2) and fifth in assists (9.0). He also is the only guard in the top 26 in rebounding, and is tied for 20th in three-pointers made at 2.8 per game.
“I think this year has been my best year so far,” Doncic said. “And I’ve got to keep improving.”
Doncic has improved so much that during a recent game against Indiana, Pacers coach Rick Carlisle badgered one referee into whistling a carrying violation against Doncic. Asked about that, Carlisle, who coached the Mavs the previous 13 years, laughed and said:
“You’ve got to try and find something to slow the guy down. I mean, even if you just have to beg for a call.”
One thing Doncic has done is improve his status on winning this season’s NBA’s Most Valuable Player award. The preseason odds-on favorite to win the award, Doncic didn’t exactly get off to a rousing start – by his lofty standards – this season, but has picked up an incredible amount of steam lately.
However, MVPs and any other prestigious individual awards are not even high on the boxes Doncic wants to check off his list. At Media Day on Saturday, the 22-year old Doncic said: “I want to win the championship.”
In taking questions from the international media, Doncic spent a large portion of Saturday’s interview session talking about his native Slovenia qualifying for the Olympics last summer in men’s basketball for the first time and advancing to the bronze medal
game, where they lost to Australia.
“Fourth place is never great,” Doncic said. “It’s the worst place you can ever be, but we came far away, especially since we didn’t even know we were going to go to the Olympics.
“I will always represent my country. It’s just a pleasure. It’s just something you do with the heart, and I will always be there for my country.”
As far as being on Team LeBron (James) and being teammates with Golden State Warriors superstar guard Stephen Curry in the All-Star game, Doncic offered this description about one of the Splash Brothers.
“It’s just amazing the way he plays the game,” he said. “Every time we play (the Warriors) we had this little bit of fear he might go for 60 points.
“Everybody would love him on their team. He’s the best shooter ever, but just the way he moves, the way he helps everybody. I think 
the underrated part is his screening, because nobody wants to get off him. When he sets a good screen, it’s tough for the defense. He’s just an unbelievable amazing player.”
The same can be said about Doncic, who is appearing in his third All-Star game in just his fourth season. By contrast, it took Stephen Curry seven seasons before earning his third All-Star berth, and it look Kevin Durant, Karl Malone and the late Kobe Bryant five years before they each made their third All-Star appearance.
Also, Doncic now has four career 45-point games, tying with him Mark Aguirre for the Mavs’ franchise record in that department. In addition, he leads the NBA in 20-point, five-rebound, five-assist halves over the last three seasons with 15 — Harden is second with 10.
“We can sit here and talk about (Doncic) all day,” Kidd said. “The things that he does on the court for himself (and) for his teammates is incredible.
“I think we’ve used every noun (and) adjective to describe his game, and he just gets better when the stage is big.”
And the stage will certainly be big on Sunday, although All-Star games are usually more fluff than serious. Still, there’s no discounting what Doncic has accomplished on his journey to playing on one of the NBA’s biggest stage.
After Doncic scored 32 points in the first half of his 51-point explosion against Los Angeles, Clippers forward Nicolas Batum said: “I mean, (Doncic) is a great player. We tried to switch one-through-five.
“He made tough shots. That’s who he is.”
Indeed, that’s who Doncic is. He’s a tough-minded, multi-talented player who many fans leave the comforts of their home and spend their hard-earned money to go and watch him play.
Twitter: @DwainPrice
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