Dallas Mavericks forward Luka Doncic is enjoying a breakout rookie season. So much so that some experts are viewing the Slovenian as the leading candidate for this season's Rookie of the Year award. Their praise is not without merit, as the Mavs' rookies statistics are comparable to those of LeBron James.
This isn't to say that Doncic will reach the same level of greatness that James has, but the similarities in their rookie season stats are worth noting.
James holds the edge in several categories, including points, assists, and steals. However, Doncic has managed to top the King's rookie season marks in rebounding, field goal percentage, and three-point percentage.
Doncic, now 19 years of age, has made 32 appearances with the Mavs this season (all starts), racking up averages of 19.0 points on 42.9 percent shooting from the field (35.4 percent from beyond the arc), 6.7 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.1 steals in 32.4 minutes per outing.
Earlier this week, James noted that he would love to play alongside Doncic in the future. Whether or not that idea comes to fruition remains to be seen. Luka, however, is open to the thought.
“Ask me would I like to play with Kevin Durant? Absolutely,” James told SportsDay when asked about the possibility of playing with Pelicans star Anthony Davis. “Ask if I'd like to play with Jimmy Butler. I'll say it right now. Ask about Kyrie Irving, Giannis (Antetokounmpo). Ask me about (Joel) Embiid, Ben Simmons, all of 'em. Luka Doncic. Ask me right now. Come on, guys, it's not rocket science. These are great players, absolutely. I'd love to play with a lot of great players. It's just who I am. And I play by the rules.”
James listed several great players in that response, but the fact that he mentioned Doncic says a lot about the progress he's already made.
Follow Us
Subscribe