By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said that he and his team had become aware of what kind of player Luka Doncic while they were watching him win pretty much everything there is to win in Europe. The Slovenian point forward’s entrance in the NBA just confirmed to them that he’s indeed something special.
“You don’t just win MVPs and championships at 17 and 18 years old in the world’s second-best league and not be amazing,” Cuban said in an interview with Hoopshype. Shortly before the Mavericks landed Doncic via the trade with the Atlanta Hawks, the Slovenian player had claimed EuroLeague season and Final Four MVP while leading Real Madrid to the title, plus Spanish ACB League MVP.
Per Hoopshype:
You obviously believed in Luka Doncic enough to trade Trae Young’s draft rights and a 2019 protected first-rounder to Atlanta to land Luka. But at what point did you realize that Luka could potentially be a once-in-a-generation talent?
MC: Probably 10 games into the regular season. We saw some amazing things when he was in Europe, obviously. You don’t just win MVPs and championships at 17 and 18 years old in the world’s second-best league and not be amazing. Then, we saw a lot of great things when he came in and worked out prior to the draft and played pick-up. I mean, he was just dominating. But you still don’t know; there are a lot of guys who come into the NBA with a lot of talent and you get excited about them, but you just don’t know until you really see them in NBA regular-season games. Then, there’s a whole different level in the playoffs that we haven’t seen with Luka yet. But when we saw him in those first 10 games, you could just see that he was special. I just didn’t think that it would come together this quickly for him. Winning Rookie of the Year and then taking another quantum leap forward this year? That’s a testament to not only Luka’s talent, but also his willingness to work hard.
In his sophomore season in the NBA, Doncic is averaging 28.5 points, 9.5 rebounds and 8.8 assists. He made his first All-Star Game appearance and is considered among the primary MVP candidates.