Luka Doncic, 25, already has 3 Top 5 Kia MVP rankings and 5 All-NBA 1st Team honors. Is an NBA title in his future?
• Download the NBA app
DALLAS – Michael Jordan knocked on the door several times while the Detroit Pistons beat on him.
LeBron James was knocked out of his first NBA Finals and didn’t return for four years.
And the late Jerry West lost in the Finals seven times, suffering year after year until, at age 33, he and the Lakers finally won in West’s eighth trip.
The first two guys mentioned above occupy spots on many fans and NBA insiders’ Mt. Rushmores. Which suggests there is time and opportunity for Luka DoncicDallas Mavericks star guard and NBA scoring leader, to reach the heights of your sport and win one or more championship rings.
This year? Not really. Doncic and Dallas find themselves deep in a 3-0 hole against Boston. It’s a deficit that no NBA team has been able to overcome to win a best-of-seven playoff series, much less a Finals.
With Game 4 scheduled for Friday (8:30 a.m. ET, ABC) at the American Airlines Center, the Mavericks will have their hands full avoiding a sweep. Doncic’s continued education as a catalyst, focal point, leader and burgeoning legend will likely soon come to a halt.
The burly 6-foot-7, 230-pound point guard was criticized after his performance in Wednesday’s Game 3 loss. He scored 27 points but needed 27 shots to get them, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range. He only got to the foul line for four free throws, less than half his average.
Luka Doncic talks about what he learned after losing Game 3 and what the Mavericks need to do to win Game 4.
Worst of all, he fouled out with 4:12 left and his team trailing 93-90. The irony was that an offensive-minded player known for let it happen The attitude towards defense would take the trouble to play enough in a crucial game to be penalized for six fouls.
Hard lesson. Lumps are caught. And more likely to come, which could be just what Doncic needs to find himself doused in champagne and hugging the Larry O’Brien Trophy one day.
“Yes, I think history is there for us to learn from, when we look at the great players and the struggles,” Dallas coach Jason Kidd told reporters Thursday. “You look at MJ (Jordan) and the struggles he had against Detroit. You’re looking at some of Magic Johnson’s struggles. You’re watching LeBron’s first time.
Kidd himself reached the Finals in his prime with the Nets in 2002 and 2003, but didn’t win a title until he was 38 with Dallas in 2011. Nothing is guaranteed, and sooner a player will learn to win, the best.
“That’s where you have to learn,” Kidd said. “But as big guys, they use that for the next season or the next two seasons to try to get back into it, because now they understand that experience is an important thing.
“When you look at the Celtics, they lost to the Warriors two years ago. They lost to Miami in game 7 (in the East final last year). So just the experience of understanding that you’re not promised to come back, that you have to work.
“For great players, you have to understand how to succeed at the highest level.”
Doncic, a veteran of six NBA seasons, turned 25 in February. His CV is dazzling for his age:
But some flaws in his game were on full display over the course of three Finals games: defense, whining and conditioning.
The Celtics aren’t the only ones targeting Doncic almost every time on the court, they’re just doing it under the brightest lights. He’s not tenacious defensively and he’s not mobile, meaning the ball carrier can usually get past him unhindered. This leads to easy baskets or at least sends other Dallas defenders scrambling.
“In this playoff series, when you talk about the Clippers (in the first round) until today, their defense has improved,” Kidd said. “But when you plan to be involved in every pick-and-roll, there are going to be mistakes that happen. It’s just the game of basketball. We just need to limit these errors.
Teammate Kyrie Irving spoke after Game 3 about the other Mavs helping Doncic by being more disciplined in their defense against the shells around him. That means help, rotation, and care that starts with him. Doncic can also devote more of his energy to that half of the court, if Dallas can find others, from Irving to PJ Washington to guys like Derrick Jones Jr. or Dante Exum, to generate more scoring.
Doncic does them no favors when he complains to a referee about a call or non-call. He’ll occasionally come running back if he hasn’t made a big play, either because he’s unhappy or just struggling. And sometimes he mixes all three: poor defensive fundamentals, complaining to the referee and lingering too long behind the play.
Granted, it’s possible the Mavericks weren’t built to beat the Celtics. An NBA scout who worked the first three rounds of the playoffs spoke about the ongoing matchups this spring.
“Minnesota was a bad game for Denver, Dallas was a bad game for Minnesota and Boston looks like a bad game for Dallas,” he said. “I think Denver would have been a bad matchup for Boston, mainly because of (center Nikola) Jokic. But the Celtics are a problem for these guys.
Doncic said: “I mean, they have great players. Basically, all five players on the pitch can really score. They can shoot. Our strategy was simply to have them drive more, then take the wheel, during the rotations. I think I need to do a better job of that, staying right out front.
Doncic is not the only one to complain about the referees. The Timberwolves have two such pinch-hitters in Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns. Honestly, Jokic is doing a lot of things with the Nuggets. It’s a dead end when it comes to winning, even if you can lose some.
As for Doncic’s conditioning, his physical appearance suggests he could spend an offseason getting in shape. “He might just have the body he’s going to have,” the scout shrugged. “What concerns me is that the wheels are falling off. He has been playing long seasons for many years.
Indeed, Doncic spoke about soon participating with the Slovenian national team in the bid for the Olympic Games.
Think about the player Doncic could be in 2024-25 if, instead, he focused this summer on the above and more.
Jordan transformed himself through rigorous personal training. West continued to grind.
Doncic, when asked about an offseason diet, said: “Oh, definitely, a lot of holes (to plug), I think, again. I am 25. I have a lot to learn. It’s my first NBA Finals, so I’ll learn from it, for sure.
“But we’re not in the offseason yet.”
* * *
Steve Aschburner has been writing about the NBA since 1980. You can email him here, find his archives here and follow him on.
The views expressed on this page do not necessarily reflect those of the NBA, its clubs, or Warner Bros. Discovery.