The Brilliance of Luka Dončić.
Now six years into his career and in the thick of the MVP race, there seems no limit on what he can accomplish - at least individually.
So here’s something to chew on - against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday, Luka Dončić put up 45 points, fourteen assists and nine rebounds on 17-29 shooting.
Per Sports Illustrated, no other player in NBA history has ever achieved such a (highly specific) stat-line.
And while Dallas couldn’t come away with the win, Dončić’s follow up act on Wednesday - his 25th birthday, as it happened - was maybe even more impressive: a 30/16/11 triple-double in a win against Toronto.
On back-to-back nights no less, it was another reminder of Dončić’s individual greatness as he puts a stamp on a career-year.
Averaging nearly a triple-double, the NBA’s leading scorer (at 34.4 points-per-game), much improved growth on the defensive end and an MVP case, that while always contentious, is far more solid then certain online discourse might have you believe.
And the big picture for the Mavericks? They continue to build momentum heading down the stretch.
Currently seventh in the West (as of this writing) with some six weeks to play in the regular season and 8-2 in their last ten games, it isn’t out of the realm of possibility to suggest they could make up ground and climb the conference ladder - with the playoff race and final seeding in the West, even at the top, still up in the air.
The key though, will be ensuring that momentum is maintained.
After all, developing a consistent championship blueprint around Dončić, a history-in-motion type of player since his NBA debut in 2018, hasn’t happened for Dallas just yet.
The encore performance to their Conference Finals run in 2022, for example, was missing the playoffs entirely last year - trying to find the right mix, still a work in progress. The “moves” though, as it were, were indeed made. Kyrie Irving was added at the 2023 deadline to be Dončić’s key running mate, another attempt at supplementing a player who has had the highest usage rate in the sport since the moment he entered the league. Not too long ago? That was going to be Kristaps Porziņģis but the fit, for a variety of reasons, was never quite there and Irving, not to excuse his bizarre and too-often hateful antics off-court, is still an effective player who has continued to mesh will with Dončić this season (alongside the additions the team has made around the edges).
Because most nights, no matter who Dallas is playing, you can count on Dončić to be the focal point, the focus, the centre of gravity on every inch of the floor.
Not that it is all that surprising.
While many NBA prospects can arrive with a certain degree of uncertainty (a byproduct of the one-and-done system), Dončić was different.
Having played professionally in Europe since he was 16, he was an EuroLeague MVP and champion both before he arrived in North America.
Prepped, prepared and fully-formed, he promptly authored one of best rookie seasons in recent memory, seamlessly carrying the Mavericks torch from one era to the next - as Dirk Nowitzki retired, here was Dončić, an embodiment of the next wave of “positionless” basketball: a 6’7 guard, with a playmaker’s touch, range from deep and the ability to maximize his imposing physical presence, to create his own opportunities with an almost supernatural ease.
And over the following six years, he has only gotten better, an All-Star, an All-NBA fixture, a player who, just entering his traditional prime years, has already begun, rightfully, to find himself apart of larger discussions surrounding his place in the game, both in the NBA and outside it, as one of the greatest Europeans to ever pick up a basketball, an impressive distinction as the sport (and the NBA) finds itself, in 2024, as a truly global operation (Dončić, being Slovenian).
So from the sidelines, you can’t help but hope he succeeds - even if “your” team finds themselves running through Dallas.
For to see such a player take their rightful place as “the best of the best” is a rare if special experience - one we should be careful not to take for granted.
Great work Ryan.