Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic has rapidly ascended the NBA player rankings in his three seasons with the team. But Mavs owner Mark Cuban says he knew early on how good the former No. 3 overall pick could be.
On Monday’s edition of The Herd with Colin Cowherd, Cuban said he knew five games into Doncic’s career how special he could be. He said that some of the things he was doing as a 19-year-old convinced him that Doncic would be a superstar.
“He was doing things that you’ve never imagined a 19-year old kid to do,” Cuban said. “It was hard to believe a 10 year vet could do those things and Luka was doing them as a rookie.”
Luka Doncic averaged 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists for the Mavericks as a rookie in the 2018-19 season. He won Rookie of the Year honors, and followed that up with an All-Star appearance the following year.
.@mcuban knew 5 games in how special Luka Dončić could be:
“He was doing things that you’ve never imagined a 19-year old kid to do. It was hard to believe a 10 year vet could do those things & Luka was doing them as a rookie.” pic.twitter.com/JWcmfuiJfp
— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) March 1, 2021
The 2019-20 season was a real coming out year for Luka Doncic though. On top of making his first All-Star game while averaging 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists per game that year, he had an exceptional performance against the LA Clippers in the playoffs.
In six games in the Western Conference first round, Doncic averaged 31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.8 assists, including an epic triple-double in Game 4.
And Doncic picked up the 2020-21 season right where he left off. He’s currently averaging 28.5 points, 8.4 rebounds and 9.0 assists for the Mavs this year.
As soon as the Mavs start winning more consistently with him playing at that level, he’ll be a perennial MVP contender.
The post Mark Cuban Reveals When He Knew Luka Doncic Was Special appeared first on The Spun.
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