Dallas Fan Weekly

Luka Doncic is the most under appreciated superstar in the NBA. I am not sure why he gets this sort of slept on treatment, but I can most certainly prove it’s happening. Luka Doncic consistently has his game under appreciated by all NBA talking heads. People seem to consistently group him in with a player unable to win a championship for reasons I can’t seem to comprehend. I understand I am a completely biased person as a Mavs fan, but I am pretty sure I can form a logical argument as to why people do not seem to appreciate the greatness that is Luka Doncic. 

People seem to be under the impression that Luka Doncic is not a player that you can build a championship contender around for some reason. Luka Doncic is currently in his 6th season while currently dominating the NBA at rates the league has never seen once again. He is 24 years old doing things that have currently never before seen in the NBA by a player before the age of 25. Joel Embid is constantly talked about as a generational talent capable of creating a championship contender around. That may be true, but last time I checked Luka Doncic had taken a team with zero all stars farther into the playoffs than prime Joel has ever done with hall of famers on his team. Joel scored 70 in a game and everyone sung his praises and then Luka followed up that performance by scoring 73 points and the narrative was that defense no longer exists in the NBA. Luka is also six years younger than the reigning MVP who has never made it out of the second round of the playoffs as well. 

Luka has an extremely impressive playoff resume at such a young age it can compete with anyone in NBA history. His first two years in the NBA he was the only man to have to face a healthy Paul George and Kawhi Leonard together without injuries at the age of 20 and 21. He didn’t win those two series, but ended up finishing those two playoff rounds as the all time playoff points per game leader. Ahead of a man by the name of Michael Jordan. Not to shabby against two of the best perimeter defenders of his generation. His third year in the playoffs Luka would go on to the Western Conference Finals losing to the eventual champions Golden State Warriors. In the semi final round Luka would single handily beat the number one seed Phoenix Suns led by Devin Booker and Chris Paul all by himself, literally. Luka actually had as many points as the suns by himself in game 7 by half time in a complete display of domination. Please remind me of how well the current MVP Joel Embiid performed in game 7 in the semis last year. 

Luka is the example of a player that performs at a higher level when the lights get brighter. The playoffs happen and he takes over in ways that seem hard to even fathom even for a player that puts up ridiculous career averages throughout the regular season. Last time I checked those are the type of players that turn into multiple time over champions. He is constantly compared to James Harden as a player who has played with a ridiculous number of hall of fame players. James has had so many hall of famers traded to his team it is ridiculous. He has gotten everything he has ever wanted. Even with all of that special treatment he has never carried a team in the playoffs as far as Luka has while Luka did so by the age of 23. James couldn’t make the conference finals with Dwight Howard, Russel Westbrook, or Chris Paul all while at a prime NBA age. Luka has consistently performed better in clutch games than anybody ever. Literally. 

The only bad performance that could possible be added to Lukas resume is the not making the playoffs last year after the mid season Kyrie Irving trade. Please show me how many times teams have traded for a great talent and didn’t have any growing pains. Ill wait. Luka was also going through a lawsuit with his mother. Im not sure how great you are as a human being, but if you as a 24 year old wouldn’t be distracted by that then I’m going to question your relationship with your family. 

Luka has never had great players on his team, and has already built himself a hall of fame career. His stats speak for themselves. Luka and Kyrie have been off to a rough start this season, but the amount of injuries that the mavericks have faced this season is ridiculous. If you aren’t scared to see that Magic man in the playoffs this year than you clearly haven’t watched any basketball.

Put some respect on this mans name and please sit back and appreciate the greatness you are witnessing.