Luka Doncic is one of the best young prospects in the game right now. Doncic looks like a perennial All-Star and an MVP candidate for the future. The whole league is hyped on the Slovenian, and the Mavericks look like they’ve got a future great. Doncic can compete against the likes of Kawhi Leonard and LeBron James: he isn’t afraid of the moment, and he easily passes the eye test for being a good player. Stats are limited in measuring impact, but anyone who can average 28.8 PPG, 9.4 RPG, and 8.8 APG their second year in the league is special.
Having averaged near a triple-double last season, this year Doncic is on everyone’s radar. After all, people expect big things after a breakout year. However, some people were on the Doncic train before the intense hype. One of those players is former Maverick, JJ Barea. Recently, he went on The Old Man And The Three with JJ Redick to talk about Doncic. He recounts a funny story about his first impressions of Doncic. The segment starts at 39:25.
JJ Barea’s recounting of Luka Doncic is very impressive. After all, it isn’t always that a new draft prospect walks into an NBA gym, and plays with the ease of a pickup game. Luka is a bigger guard, and JJ Barea also detailed how Doncic used it to his advantage. He treated games with established NBA players like they were nothing. This is the type of confidence that will help Doncic to succeed in the league. JJ Barea also mentions why Luka’s mentality will help him succeed.
He loves the game, he loves his teammates. He loves to compete against the best. He’s got all the things, I think, that you need to be a great basketball player.
The fact that Doncic is fearless is going to do him good in the NBA. Some players shy away from the spotlight: but Doncic is there to embrace it. In the future, it definitely seems like Doncic will dominate the NBA and become one of those generational players like LeBron James and Michael Jordan.
