Luka Doncic may have been averaging a whopping 33.6 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.9 assists so far in the 2022-23 season, but his usage rate has Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd concerned.
The 23-year-old Slovenian has been the cornerstone of the Mavericks’ offense as they sit with a 6-5 run in the West, but with 71 games left in the season, his coach has every reason to fear a burnout as Doncic continues to pile up the numbers.
And the numbers back up his concern. Per Statsmuse Twitter, the guard’s shooting gets worse as the game progresses longer.
Luka’s shooting gets worse the longer the game goes.
1Q — 53 FG%, 35 3P%
2Q — 53 FG%, 35 3P%
3Q — 48 FG%, 28 3P%
4Q — 36 FG%, 17 3P%
He currently has the 3rd highest usage rate in the 3pt era. pic.twitter.com/HcaoaSm3eD
— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 11, 2022
Speaking to David Aldridge, Kidd opined that his age was regardless of how he fared on the court, and fatigue would creep up at some stage.
Asked Jason Kidd about Luka's insane usage rate to start the season. It's a concern. "People will say he's 23," Kidd said. "But, he's human." At this rate, Kidd said, Dončić may hit a physical/mental wall around Christmas.
— David Aldridge (@davidaldridgedc) November 10, 2022
Asked Jason Kidd about Luka’s insane usage rate to start the season. It’s a concern. “People will say he’s 23,” Kidd said. “But, he’s human.” At this rate, Kidd said, Dončić may hit a physical/mental wall around Christmas.
This headache for Kidd comes on the back of consecutive losses that his team suffered. If it was a low-scoring affair that saw them lose to the Orlando Magic, then it was Kyle Kuzma’s 36-point brilliance that did it in the following game.
NBA Fans React To Luka Doncic’s Usage Rate
Social media and discussion forums were filled with opinions from fans when they heard of Kidd’s concern. And while there have been enough praises, there were concerns as well.
While some hoped that it would be better if the side acquired another scorer to help ease the load, some opted to lean toward workload management.
Doesn’t look like he has the energy to put together a few drives in a row even. Although it is a back to back, so that affects him even more.
There should be somebody on the team that could mitigate that. Like some kind of authority figure who dictates how many players are on the court and what type of gameplan they follow.
And maybe another good offensive role player in the starting lineup alongside of him so he could share the workload instead of coming off the bench
Its 10 games in and you can already tell he’s starting to feel tired, last two games he has been really bad, it’s just not sustainable.
Not sure how he looks in Washington, but Luka looked GASSED after the first Q last night. In the second half, all of his shots were short.
What makes this more impressive is that Harden did it while having the ball almost a minute less than Luka (10.1 to 9.3) and having less touches too.
Find ways to get others involved so Luka doesn’t have the ball 10 minutes per game.
Hopefully Luka realizes he doesn’t always need to do everything. Something a lot of legends learned over time.
Well Luka FT shooting is starting to regress back already and I’ve seen some people say that’s a sign of fatigue for him
I remember Billy Donovan saying something like this about Russell Westbrook early on in his MVP season. He did infact end up sustaining the effort throughout the season. I think Luka will do the same.
It remains to be seen if the Mavericks will consider reducing the minutes to ensure Doncic doesn’t go off course, given he is lighting up the league with Giannis Antetokounmpo. Dallas plays the Portland Trail Blazers next, followed by a date with the Los Angeles Clippers.
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