They are some NBA Finals in which the Boston Celtics They can win their 18th ring, which would leave them alone at the top as the winningest franchise in history. Some in which he can be champion for the first time Jayson Tatum, prototype of the sports hero that is so popular in North America. Or in which Kyrie Irvingthe villain of the film, could close the arc of a redemption that began with the Mavericks. So many narratives at play and yet all the spotlights, without exception, point towards the same thing.
Luka Doncic, that Slovenian white guy who at first glance is somewhat chubby, who has been there for six years, since he arrived in Dallas, falling in love with the United States, and by extension the entire world, with his way of playing basketball. A superlative talent that at 25 years old faces his first NBA Finals. Those that can confirm, if anyone still has doubts, like the greatest basketball player in the world. A label, that of being the best, with which he has been living without burdening him since he was a child and arrived in Spain in 2012 to do a test with the Real Madrid youth team which, of course, he passed.
“We had seen some video of him, and the first time I see it is an individual training session that we do with him and in which those responsible for the quarry were there. And It was very easy to see that he was much better than the best, he always was.we immediately realized that we had a very very special player in front of us. Because also, it was a generation, that of ’99, that was very good“, remember José Luis Pichel, his first coach when he arrived at Real Madrid at 13 years old, who trained him for two years, when he was a child and a cadet. Just three years later, at 16, he had already debuted with the first team and at 19, after winning everything in white, he made the leap to the best league in the world.
In it he became a boss from the first minute. In a record-breaking move since he landed in the United States, in the summer of 2025 he will sign the most lucrative contract in NBA history (346 million dollars and five seasons). Money that their numbers justify, and their ascendancy in the game. 34 points, 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists on average in regular league, almost a triple double a night. A total player who has taken his impact even further in these playoffwhere he is the only player with more than 450 points scored, with more than 150 rebounds, with more than 150 assists and with at least 50 triples scored.
Doncic, “a tough guy” since he was a child
Nobody is at his level. For some reason he is top scorer, top rebounder and top assist. But also the one who has scored the most shots, and the one who has made the most three-pointers, and the one who has made the most free throws. And if that were not enough, the one who has stolen the most balls. Doncic leads up to seven classifications so far playoffsomething no one had done before reaching the Finals.
“Has a innate quality since childhood, knows everything that happens on the track, is able to see everything and understand it. Many times, as coaches We felt with him that the only thing we had to do was not bother and applaudbecause we were looking at displays of very pure talent,” recalls Pichel, in a speech that is similar to another given by his current coach, Jason Kidd. After the second game of the conference final against Minnesota, which Doncic decided with a triple at the buzzer, he acknowledged that at that moment he had limited himself to telling him to flow, without preparing “any special play” because “Everyone knows that the ball is going to 77 and that he is going to throw, and there is nothing they can do about it”.
“He loves that scenario. He doesn’t run away from it. When you look at Luka’s level of understanding of the game, of time and the score, of who’s on the court, “He is the first in the class.”stressed Kidd, who highlighted his strong character, the same one he showed from the first moment he arrived in Spain and with which he overcame the obstacles of language and ending up in a country that was not his own as a preteen.
“He was shy, but with a very strong personality, the same one he has now. He was already very generous playing and off the court, and at 13 years old he was already a leader and took care of the mood of the rest, ensuring that everyone was well. And he didn’t do it consciously. It was something natural,” He remembers the coach who guided his steps in his first games in Madrid and with whom he won the first Mini Cup for the club’s basketball section.
Boston, favorite against the magic of Luka and Irving
A leadership that he has assumed in Dallas, in a team in which he has a luxury second sword, all a megastar like Kyrie Irving (they are the second point guard-shooting pairing since 1970-71 to reach the NBA Finals with a combined average of more than 50 points per game in the postseason), and a Praetorian guard (Lively, PJ Washington, Jones Jr, Gafford) who works at your service, never gives up hard work and knows perfectly well what his functions are limited to in the Doncic ecosystem.
Kyrie Irving (11) y Luka Doncic (77). / AP
Defense, muscle, rebound, shooterspivots with springs to end alley-oops los pick and roll from Slovenian, another superstar who appears in his moments of anxiety… Around all this Kidd has built the perfect environment to exploit Doncic’s individual talent to the maximum collectively, rookie of the year in his debut in 2018 and member of the best quintet of the season in the other five seasons he has been in the league, in which he has always faced players with greater physical capacity than him.
“The whole basketball world knew him since he was a kid. He grew up receiving a lot of attention from his rivals, very physical defenses and contactsand since he was little he has gotten used to dealing with and managing that frustration that there are times when the referees allow it. He’s always been a tough guy, who has played with people older than him, and now he is showing it in such a physical league. Because “His character and his understanding of the game are ahead of everything, even the video,” remembers Pichel.
Of all these virtues, and even some more that can be pulled out of the hat, the Mavericks will need to use to face some Boston Celtics who reach the final series (early morning on Thursday at 2:30 a.m.; Movistar+) with the poster of favorites after a year in which they have swept almost any team in the regular league (64 wins and only 18 losses) and on their way to the final in the playoff. Although none of those who crossed paths until now had a magician like Doncic, a factor that can make a difference and dismantle any system on its own, as it has already demonstrated on many occasions. Now, he just needs to repeat it in the best of scenarios, his first finals.
Highest scoring average in Playoff history
Michael Jordan 33.4 (179 games) Luka Doncic 31.1 (45 games) Allen Iverson 29.1 (71 games) Kevin Durant 29.3 (170 games) Jerry West 29.1 (153 games) LeBron James 28.4 (287 games) Donovan Mitchell 28.1 (54 games) Devin Booker 28 (47 games) Anthony Edwards 27.8 (27 games) Nikola Jokic 27.7 (80 games)
2024-06-06 06:47:32
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