Dallas Mavericks first-year point guard Luka Doncic served as one of the best players in the NBA throughout the 2018-19 regular season — whether it was among rookies or veterans. As a result of his efforts, the Mavs rookie was honored with the 2018-19 NBA Rookie of the Year earlier this week, which caught the eye of yet another European basketball legend in Pau Gasol.
While Gasol initially tweeted at Doncic after the rookie sensation was originally selected by the Atlanta Hawks with the No. 3 overall pick in the 2019 NBA Draft.
Now, Gasol has once again taken to Twitter to address Doncic as the longtime NBA big man was also a Rookie of the Year Award winner to begin his illustrious career in the United States.
Luka Doncic, Rookie of the Year!!! Sounds familiar (x2)…. The Championship is waiting for you! 😉 Congrats @luka7doncic!! https://t.co/fAErylQhTJ
— Pau Gasol (@paugasol) June 25, 2019
Of course, Doncic was promptly traded to the Mavs, who shipped fellow rookie point guard Trae Young back to the Hawks in exchange for the would-be Rookie of the Year.
However, it is also worth noting that Young finished second in the same voting, making the draft day swap quite the even trade for the Hawks and Mavs.
Unfortunately for Doncic and company, though, the Mavs were unable to reach the postseason as a result of the 2018-19 campaign. Instead, Dallas did manage to celebrate the two-decade-long career of longtime Mavs power forward Dirk Nowitzki, who officially retired from the NBA after the conclusion of the 2018-19 regular season.
Most notably, however, Nowitzki and Doncic were still able to play alongside one another for at least one NBA season before the former hung it up for good.
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