Young Doncic may be one for the ages
How young is Luka Doncic? Consider this: He's still three years away from the required legal age to rent car.
The Dallas Mavericks superstar turned 22 on Sunday, and his accomplishments are astounding.
Through his first 165 games, Doncic is averaging 25.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 7.6 assists and a .452 field goal percentage. He has been compared to the game's greatest legends, including Lebron James, Larry Bird and Magic Johnson.
He's already tied for 12th alltime with 32 career triple-doubles. Magic Johnson had 13 tripledoubles through his first 114 games. Lebron James had nine through his first 266 games.
Doncic has had 47 games in which he's scored at least 30 points. Only James (100) and Kevin Durant (75) had more before their 22nd birthdays. Want more?
Last week, Doncic recorded his 100th game with at least 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. It's the second-fastest an NBA player has reached 100game mark for that stat as measured by total games played and by age. Oscar Robertson, who accomplished the feat in 115 games, is the only player to do it faster.
“He's on the highest possible trajectory that a young player can be on,” Mavs coach Rick Carlisle recently said.
How good has Doncic been through his first two and a half seasons? Consider these bona fides:
• He became the first Maverick to be voted as an NBA All-star starter in consecutive years. He's the third Maverick to start an All-star Game, joining Dirk Nowitzki (2007, 2010) and Jason Kidd (1996). Kidd is the only other Mavs player voted in as a starter.
• Doncic is the third player in league history to average 25-10-10 in multiple months (minimum of 10 games). The others are Robertson and Russell Westbrook, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
• He is the youngest player to lead the league in triple-doubles when he had 17 last season. He broke Jason Kidd's franchise record of nine triple-doubles in a season and later became the Mavs' franchise leader, breaking Kidd's record of 21. Doncic did it in 122 games. Kidd played 500 games with Dallas.
• Doncic has missed a tripledouble by one rebound or one assist 12 times, including three games this season.
• Doncic joined James as the only players in league history to record 40-point triple-doubles before turning 21.
• Earlier this season, Doncic scored 25 or more points in 14 consecutive games, passing the previous high franchise streak set by Mark Aguirre in 1983 and Nowitzki in 2006.
• Doncic has led the Mavs in points, rebounds and assists in the same game for a franchiserecord 45 times in 165 career regular-season games. Nowitzki did it 38 times in 1,522 games. Doncic broke Nowitzki's record in only his 139th game.
Now if somebody could help him out with that car rental ...