Allen Iverson appeared on Shaquille O’Neal‘s podcast and was asked to pick a current player who reminds him the most of himself. While Iverson is aware of the comparisons with Ja Morant, he instead praised Luka Doncic.
“Everybody says Ja. But man, let me talk about this guy. What the hell is wrong with Luka? You can go there, but I don’t even wanna go there. The 73, goes without saying. I’m talking about his style. It’s streetball mixed in. He plays the way he plays. He plays like a black guy. That man got style. He got swag. He’s so cool out there man, everything is slow, major moves. The wet ball, he shoots the blood out of that ball. Man Luka is…”
Iverson recently told Rachel Nichols that Luka is the one modern guard he’d love to share a backcourt with. It’s clear that Iverson heavily admires Luka’s dominance on the court but also the style with which he does it. Doncic is known to be a trash-talker and is ruthless on the court.
Another modern version of Iverson, Kyrie Irving, is Luka’s current backcourt partner. Seeing how good Kyrie has been when healthy, it’s not surprising to see Iverson want to share a backcourt with Doncic. But when it comes to calling Luka the modern Iverson, I’d hold off, given the differences in their game.
Iverson wasn’t the playmaker Luka was, often excelling as an off-guard. Their scoring arsenals are also different. While Doncic is one of the best driving and rim-finishing guards in the NBA, he does it at a methodical pace. Iverson dominated in a similar way but through his speed and athleticism.
Luka Doncic In Search Of His First MVP
Allen Iverson had high praise for Luka, but there’s a key difference between what Iverson achieved and what Luka has so far. Iverson was named the 2001 NBA MVP and Luka, in his sixth season, is still searching for his first MVP win. He’s been a top-six finisher every year since his sophomore year in the league, but the Mavericks have never had the team record to justify Doncic winning the award, even with his statistical production.
Doncic is this season’s scoring leader so far, averaging 34.2 points, 8.8 rebounds, and 9.5 assists. These numbers would make him a shoo-in for MVP, but the Mavericks have a 32-23 record, which is only good enough for the seventh seed in the West. He’s still in the running for the award, but it’ll require a mammoth second half of the season for Luka to come out on top.
The Mavericks would likely need to be a top-four seed in the West for Doncic to have a shot. They’re currently four games behind the Denver Nuggets in the fourth seed. The Mavericks are on a six-game win streak right now while Denver dropped their last three, so there’s still a chance that they could rise. However, it’ll require Dallas to reach at least 50 wins on the season.
They have the ninth easiest schedule left over the final stretch of the season, so they have a good shot to prove that their recent form is sustainable. The additions of Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington over the winter have already greatly improved the team. With the roster finally getting healthy after a string of injury troubles, Luka can take this roster as far as he did the 2022 Mavericks.
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