Luka Doncic is fast becoming one of the best playoff performers in the entire NBA. His playoff averages speak for themselves, he has averaged over 33 points over all the games he has played in the postseason. However, Luka’s success hasn’t outright translated to team success yet, with the Dallas Mavericks losing 2 and winning 1 series in their playoff history with Doncic so far.
This has given some fodder to Doncic’s critics, who have suggested that he may not be a winner and that his style of play may not quite work in the playoffs. There are also suggestions that Luka’s numbers are bloated and that they don’t contribute to winning basketball, especially after he dropped 45 points in a Game 1 loss against the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference Semifinals on Monday.
NBA analyst Jason McIntyre professed his belief that Luka is the best player in the NBA and when asked by a fan about the fact that Luka Doncic’s scoring came without the win, he compared the Slovenian star to Michael Jordan (via Sportskeeda).
“Did you watch Michael Jordan for the first 6 years of his career? That’s who Luka Doncic is right now. He’ll get his Pippen, eventually.”
Doncic’s supporting cast has stepped up quite decently this season, especially following the trade that saw Kristaps Porzingis sent away. They even won 2 games against the Utah Jazz without Luka, but the first game against the Suns was a very poor one for the likes of Jalen Brunson and Spencer Dinwiddie.
And while both might be serviceable players, neither of them is an All-Star and certainly nowhere close to Scottie Pippen, so Doncic is indeed doing a lot without much help. While it may be premature to compare him to the GOAT, if he can inspire his team to beat the Suns, a lot of the criticism will start to die down.
