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On Sunday, Luka Doncic took one step back and launched a three-point shot into the air that came down with a mighty fury and spelled out one thing: I have arrived. Doncic almost single handily took down the title favorite Clippers, tying up the series 2-2 and earning the ultimate respect a double ‘Bang’ from Mike Breen on his game-winning shot.
At 21 years old, Doncic became the youngest player to hit a playoff buzzer-beater, the youngest with a 40-point triple-dobule (43 points, 17 rebounds, and 13 assists), and joined Michael Jordan as the only players to score 40 or more points and hit a game-winner in a playoff game.
A little over two years, there was still concern that Luka Doncic couldn’t make it in the NBA and four teams passed over him in the 2018 NBA Draft. Now, he’s drawing comparisons to the greatest players of all-time, and on the Locked On Mavericks Podcast on Monday, hosts Nick Angstadt and Isaac Harris concluded that they would take Doncic over another young MVP in the league, Giannis Antetokounmpo.
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Isaac Harris: [Luka Doncic’s] top three in the game right now, we can all agree with that right? What else does he have to do? I’ve already seen this on twitter today—and whether it’s a reactionary thing or not—would you take him over Giannis if you’re building a franchise? I am.
Nick Angstadt: Oooooooooooh
Harris: I am, but we’re a Mavs podcast and everything, but I think he’s there, he’s there right now. How many players in the league right now would you say are better than him right now when they tip off? He’s right there with Kawhi, LeBron, Giannis, and James Harden, he’s right there he’s in that group. Right now, he’s in that elite group.
Angstadt: And when Durant comes back and Curry comes back it’s a different conversation then. But what I was saying during the game was, Luka’s doing all of this, he’s as productive as James Harden basically, he’s as effective as some of these guys, he carries an offense as well as LeBron does, and yet, he’s still not efficient. With his three-point shot, we get so frustrated with the free throws that he misses, there’s still a ceiling. There’s still somewhere that he can go up to, there’s still another level he can hit by being more efficient by hitting more threes. He’s still not even an efficient three-point shooter, maybe not even a good three-point shooter just if you look at the numbers alone. There’s still another level to go.
So if you’re telling me, would you rather start a team with Giannis or Luka? Luka has that next level to go. For Giannis, it’s ‘can he hit the shot’ right? The jury’s still out on whether he can hit it or not. We know Luka can hit it. But can he hit it efficiently? I’d much rather bet on that and the fact that Luka can run the No. 1 offense in NBA History on his own.
It may be too early to start declaring him the GOAT, but Luka Doncic is turning heads in the NBA and he’s proving he’s here to stay.
