MINNEAPOLIS — Luka Doncic sat in the smallest postgame press conference he would be in until the end of the season and placed the trophy on the table in front of him. The award was presented to him after he was named MVP of the Western Conference Finals, and began with a sort of shiny gold podium with a silver ball resting on top of it. He admitted he wasn’t sure how it would fit in his trophy case.
“(I’m going home),” Doncic said, saying it’s the only destination he’s sure of at the moment. “I don’t know where I am yet.”
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Dončić’s glowing accolades are too numerous to list. He has a trophy from Real Madrid’s 2018 EuroLeague Championship, but no trophy from Slovenia’s first-ever EuroBasket win in 2017. The number of plaques and medals he has won from past tournaments and finals in which he has appeared so long ago is too numerous to remember. Aside from his post-game beer, what was on his mind was the pursuit of a more golden beer, not his new hunk of metal.
With Thursday’s 124-103 win in Game 5 over the Minnesota Timberwolves, Doncic advanced to the NBA Finals for the first time. Along with him came new teammates who were some of his best ever, further amplifying the transcendent superstar who seemed destined to reach this stage.
Now he has done so.
Luka Doncic smiles during a press conference after the Mavericks won the Western Conference Finals. (Bruce Kluckhorn/USA Today)
It’s been 13 years since the Dallas Mavericks advanced to the NBA Finals. It’s been 13 years since they lifted the crown for the first time in franchise history under Dirk Nowitzki. After 13 years in Nowitzki’s twilight years, he learned to trust Doncic after he arrived. This is and will always be Nowitzki’s franchise, but there is no better successor. Not because these two legends are identical or even close, but because they share one trait. It is this ruthless desire for victory that elevates everyone around him. Doncic took over where Nowitzki left. Now he has arrived at the very place where Nowitzki once led them. They advance to the finals against the Boston Celtics, which begins on June 6th.
Dončić never watched the NBA Finals growing up. He said, “It was 4 in the morning. “I couldn’t do it. “I went to school the next day.”
But from the start of Game 5, he left no doubt that he would reach his first. He had 10 points in the first three minutes, 15 in the first eight and 20 by the end of the quarter while the Timberwolves were down just 19 points.
“I turned around and he was shooting from half court.” said starting center Daniel Gafford. “I’m like, ‘You don’t even need to set up the screen at this point, bro.’”
It’s a level of perfection that Doncic has shown many times before, most famously in a shutout win over the Phoenix Suns in Game 7 two seasons ago.
“This game was a lot like that,” Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. “He immediately took the crowd out of the game and let his teammates know that it was time.”
Dončić’s 36 points on 14-of-22 shooting matched his co-leading running mate Kyrie Irving, who had 36 points. Irving is the only player on the team to have previously appeared in the Finals. Irving is the best player Doncic has played with, and he matched him shot-for-shot in Thursday’s walk-off win. He ensured that Dončić’s growling, screaming brilliance was channeled into his own steady, unwavering determination. Since those two are at the top of the team, the outcome is certain in a game where both decide to lose.
The teammates surrounding them – teammates who Doncic first met 12, 10 and even three months ago – quickly gained Doncic’s complete trust on the court.
When Dončić is unstoppable, his teammates enhance his brilliance. Play him straight, and Dončić overcomes his lack of high-altitude athleticism for a sky-grazing lob pass that Gafford draws into a lethal coil of the rim. Double-team him and you have rookie phenom Dereck Lively II who catches the ball at the free throw line and swings at an open teammate. Usually it’s PJ Washington or Derrick Jones Jr. When that delivery is imbued with Dončić’s own confidence, it creates a sense of redundancy.
Sometimes Josh Green makes a pass so bold you wonder if Doncic is manipulating him. At other points, old friends like Maxi Kleber have stepped in with veteran know-how to point out that Doncic is still a 25-year-old and not yet in his prime despite watching his teammates get older and older. It reminds me. Even 21-year-old second-year guard Jaden Hardy, who has had a resurgence over the past two weeks, is sporting a swagger that must come at least in part from Doncic.
Doncic is always at the helm of this team. His hagiography comes from nights like these when you have no way to watch him and think about nothing other than that he is the best basketball player alive. Whether he and his teammates are good enough to take down the Boston Celtics will be determined right now. Battles may take place over 7 games, 6 games, or multiple games.
“It’s not over yet.” Dončić said. “I need four more.”
Dončić’s trophy case can be used as a centerpiece to fit your newly awarded slab anywhere. What Doncic wants to see from the position is the biggest trophy this sport can offer. He’s always wanted it from the first moment he came into this league, an honor he knows he can surpass.
Now comes your first opportunity.
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(Top photo of Luka Dončić and his father Sasa: David Berding / Getty Images)
