Doncic’s allaround game draws comparisons to icons
Asked if the Dallas Mavericks’ Luka Doncic reminds them of anyone, people haven’t held back in recent days, going straight to Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and LeBron James.
Which is pretty crazy, when you think about it. Covers a whole lot of ground. That’s like comparing a singer to Sinatra, Caruso and Sting.
If it’s the best of all worlds with Doncic, who will grace Chase Center with his presence Saturday night against the Warriors, it’s more about feel than direct comparisons. All of the great ones have uncanny vision, court sense, command, the ability to turn roadblocks into red carpets. Doncic has been blowing people’s minds since he was 13, when he left his native Slovenia to join Real Madrid’s Under16 team and launched a career that eventually found him dominating grown men at the highest European levels.
He’s still just 20, and it’s just a shame Doncic won’t be facing Stephen Curry in his first Bay Area appearance of the season. They are two of the most entertaining, influential players of any era.
“With Curry out,” retired swingman Tracy McGrady said on ESPN, “Doncic is the best point guard in the league. He’s that good.”
Here’s a toast to McGrady’s perspective. The NBA might be turning into a positionless league, but there’s always room for a pure point guard, masterful at elevating his teammates’ performance and doing so with consummate style. Not to diminish the greatness of Kyrie Irving, Russell Westbrook, Chris Paul, Damian Lillard or the upandcoming Trae Young; it’s just that Curry and Doncic stand alone from this traditional viewpoint.
(Interesting, too, that none of the league’s top teams — Lakers, Clippers, Bucks and 76ers — has clarity at this position.)
With Doncic firmly in the MVP conversation, along with Harden, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard, the Mavericks (2010) have become a pleasant addition to the list of Western Conference contenders. Even when Doncic sat out four recent games with a sprained ankle, the team ran head coach Rick Carlisle’s precision offense without a hitch. “I think Dallas is really good,” analyst Jeff Van Gundy recently said on the air. “They don’t have to wait until next year, or the year after. I think they gotta start thinking of themselves as a championshipcaliber team.”
They are entirely modern, that’s for sure. Aside from his 3point shooting, creative passing and eitherhand dribbling mastery, Doncic — who’s 6foot7 — likes to mix it up inside and has posted doubledigit rebounds 13 times, with a high of 18 against New Orleans. He is the consummate point guard of the future, and Carlisle stands at the forefront of contemporary lowpost philosophy.
Which is to say, forget about all that.
Kristaps Porzingis stands 73 and rarely acts his height, preferring to work around the perimeter and launch 3pointers, occasionally from out there in 30foot Curry Land. This bothers the hell out of TNT’s Shaquille O’Neal and Charles Barkley, who relentlessly criticize Porzingis and the Mavericks for failing to take advantage of inside mismatches. “Until he starts going to work down low,” O’Neal said, “teams will not fear Dallas.”
In defending his strategy Thursday night after the Mavericks’ win over San Antonio, Carlisle called Porzingis “historically great” from 3point range. By any reasonable measure, that’s simply not true; the historical standards for 7footers (or those close to it) have been undeniably set by Dirk Nowitzki and Kevin Durant. Porzingis is a 35.6% career shooter from beyond the arc, and 33.5% this season.
Still, Carlisle said, “Let’s get off all this stuff about KP needs to go into the post. He doesn’t. We really don’t post anybody up . ... It’s not a good play anymore. We’ve gotta realize that this game has changed.”
That other Curry
Seth Curry played magnificently while Doncic was out, running the team efficiently and playing crucial minutes. When the Mavericks ended Milwaukee’s 18game winning streak Dec. 16, Curry had 26 points on 9for15 shooting. He followed that with 20 points against Boston, and he had a 30point outburst against Detroit earlier this month ... Family fun: In terms of career 3point shooting percentages, a hot streak could put Seth (43.3%) ahead of Steph (43.5%) ... Doncic is by far the best NBA player ever to wear No. 77, surpassing the likes of Ersan Ilyasova, Gheorghe Muresan and Vladmir Radmanovic. Doncic wore No. 7 at Real Madrid but found it taken by Dwight Powell in Dallas. Doncic went to 77 in honor of a Greek player he idolized in his youth, Vassilis Spanoulis ... It was a great day when the late Bill King was honored by baseball’s Hall of Fame, but his basketball and football work cry out for similar recognition. The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame recently announced candidates for its next election, and the list of contributors includes King alongside Marv Albert, Marty Glickman, Curt Gowdy and Johnny Most, among others. Those are four of the best, most wellknown broadcasters in history, each 100% deserving — but in terms of calling basketball playbyplay, King surpassed them all ... Footnote to Travis Ishikawa’s pennantwinning homer in 2014, ranking No. 6 on The Chronicle’s bestofthedecade sports moments: The Giants have belted a number of epic homers since moving into their ballpark on the shores of McCovey Cove, the kind that lead directly to postseason wins. Such names as Benito Santiago, Cody Ross, Juan Uribe, Edgar Renteria, Conor Gillaspie, Brandon Belt, Buster Posey and Pablo Sandoval come to mind, many of those occurring on the road. In that special category, only Ishikawa’s went into China Basin’s rightfield arcade.