Dallas Mavericks rookie phenom Luka Doncic has taken the NBA by storm over his first 55 professional games. The frontrunner for the league's Rookie of the Year Award could make his case for playing in Sunday's NBA All-Star Game, but he'll instead have to settle for an appearance in the Rising Stars Challenge, which just so happens to be headed by Mavericks teammate Dirk Nowitzki. The veteran wasn't letting the rook off easy to say the least:
https://twitter.com/KirkSeriousFace/status/1096591471149531136
Nowitzki has been in the NBA longer than Doncic has been alive, so there comes a bit of seniority applied to one of the original overseas Rising Stars.
Contrary to Dirk's statement, Doncic has averaged 5.6 assists per game entering the All-Star break, also adding 20.7 points and 7.2 rebounds to that total. Dallas sits five games out of the eighth seed in the Western Conference and the fact they remain that close can be attested to Doncic's stellar arrival on the scene.
Unlike Doncic, Nowitzki will be competing in the NBA All-Star Game on Sunday. While he hasn't officially announced that he'll be calling it quits at the end of the season, Dallas' all-time leading scorer has appeared in just 26 games this season and played 11 minutes per game. With the recent acquisition of another foreign sensation, Kristaps Porzingis from Latvia, if this is indeed Nowitzki's last hurrah, he appears to be leaving the franchise in good hands, passing the proverbial torch to the 19-year-old Slovenian who will likely not be participating in All-Star Weekend for the final time.
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