Subscribe
Follow Us
Behind superstar Luka Doncic, the Dallas Mavericks have reached the NBA Finals for only the third time in franchise history. Doncic has led the Mavericks as a No. 5 seed, beating three higher-seeded teams in the process without homecourt advantage. On a recent appearance on the Bully Ball Podcast hosted by Rachel Nichols and DeMarcus Cousins, former NBA player Jamal Crawford referred to Doncic as a ‘gangster,' in the most endearing way possible.
“Luka's a gangster, and I mean that in the most respectful way. What Luka's seen, where he came from in Slovenia, Luka is really like that,” Crawford said. “We know in the league, there's some real like dogs and there's some dogs that are dogs when it's okay, they're kind of puppies a little bit, they ain't really dogs like that.”
“Luka's a real dog, like he's going to get it. The bigger the moment, the bigger the play, the better Luka is. Even some greats don't do that. He's different. . .and he's playing like he got headphones on. You can't speed him up, he's just out here doing his thing. . .it's his pace but his pace can make you go his pace and then he just dissects you. He's something different.”
Luka Doncic was No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft by the Atlanta Hawks who traded his rights to the Mavericks. He's developed into one the best players in the league and he finished in the top three in the MVP award voting this past season.
Luka Doncic searching for his first ring
With the Mavericks in the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics, Luka Doncic is looking for his first NBA championship. It's the third time the Mavericks have made an NBA Finals appearance.
The first time the Mavericks reached the NBA Finals was during the 2005-06 season when they lost to the Miami Heat in six games. The second time they reached the Finals was during the 2010-11 season when they defeated the Heat in six games. Both of those times, the franchise was led by Dirk Nowitzki.
Nowitzki is widely considered to be the greatest player in Mavericks franchise history and also the top overseas player in NBA history. Doncic has a chance to achieve both once his career is over.
This past season, Doncic appeared in 70 games for the Mavericks at a little over 37 minutes per game. He averaged a career-high and league-leading 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists and 1.4 steals with splits of 48.7 percent shooting from the field, 38.2 percent shooting from the three-point line and 78.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Throughout the Mavericks playoff run so far, Doncic has been averaging 28.8 points, 9.6 rebounds, a league-leading 8.8 assists and 1.6 steals with splits of 43.8 percent shooting from the field, 34.3 percent shooting from the free-throw line and 80.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Last season, the Mavericks paired Doncic with a second star in Kyrie Irving whom they acquired at the 2023 NBA trade deadline from the Brooklyn Nets. The team struggled though to close the season and ended up missing the playoffs.
That enabled them to get a lottery pick that turned into Dereck Lively II who has been an immediate contributor as a rookie. Along with their 2024 trade deadline acquisitions of P.J Washington Jr. and Daniel Gafford, the Mavericks were able to clinch a Finals berth.
