The 2022 NBA Playoffs have been a coming-out party for several of the game’s young stars. While Jayson Tatum was able to lead the Boston Celtics to the Finals, Luka Doncic was arguably the best player of the postseason after leading the Dallas Mavericks all the way to the Western Conference Finals.
At only 23 years old, Doncic is the future of the league and it feels like it is only a matter of time before he is competing for titles.
The Slovenian certainly has his fans around the league, most notably Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, who recently called him his favorite young player in the NBA.
On the most recent episode of Uninterrupted’s “The Shop,” James explained what makes Doncic so special:
“He can control a game. He doesn’t even have to shoot. Literally, he’ll walk the ball up ten straight times and get to his spot every single time, just because of his pace. He knows when he comes off a pick and roll if they’re hard showing or if they hedging or if they dropping the pick and roll. He knows I can turn the corner because I got this shoulder, and I know the third line of defense, when I get there, if I just slow down and use my pivots, not even jump, just the Euro one-two, this guy’s flying by every time. It’s the mind.”
Against the Utah Jazz and Phoenix Suns, it was memorizing watching Doncic get to his preferred spots and shoot over defenses with ease. Even though teams knew what he wanted to do, they had no answer for him and it is what makes the Mavericks a team to watch for in the future.
James can certainly appreciate Doncic’s game like few others can as both have the ability to control games on a possession-by-possession level. That is a rare trait for players to have, and it will only get scarier for the league when Doncic fully realizes his potential.
Draymond Green believes Luka Doncic shares a lot of similarities with LeBron James
Doncic’s run came to an end when they fell to the Golden State Warriors in five games. The 23-year-old played his best, but the stifling defense of the Warriors was too much to handle. However, Draymond Green still had high praise for Doncic as he spoke about the many similarities he and James share.
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