While they have been an NBA franchise since 1980, the Dallas Mavericks have always been defined by one name and one name only – DIRK.
Jason Terry, Jason Kidd and Steve Nash are also big names that have played and helped the Mavericks reach new peaks over the last couple of decades, but Dirk Nowitzki is the heart and soul of the Dallas Mavericks franchise.
Spending all 21 years of his NBA career in Dallas, Nowitzki helped deliver the Mavericks their one and only title in 2011 and the German big man finished his career 6th on the NBA’s All-Time Scoring list, cementing himself as the best international player in NBA history.
Many teams tend to shy away from drafting foreign players due to many of them being unpredictable and “unseen” since they did not play college basketball, but there have been plenty of successful international prospects to enter the league through the years.
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Giannis Antetokounmpo (Greece) is a 2x MVP and Nikola Jokic (Serbia) is the league’s reigning MVP. Dallas has always had a lot of success with international prospects and while nobody can replace Dirk Nowitzki in Mavericks’ lore, Luka Doncic is looking to surpass him and write his name down as the best foreign-born player in NBA history.
Since the Mavericks drafted Luka Doncic 3rd overall in 2018, acquiring him in a trade with the Hawks that sent the No. 5 overall pick in Trae Young to Atlanta, Doncic has been the face of the franchise in Dallas and has been the sole reason why they have made the playoffs for two consecutive seasons.
From winning Rookie of the Year during the 2018-19 season to now being a 3x All-Star and 2x All-NBA talent, this is just the beginning of Luka Doncic’s journey and he has been one of the hottest players in the league over the last few weeks.
Doncic got off to a slow start to the season, as he dealt with injuries and health protocols, but he has really turned things on as of late.
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During the month of January, Luka Doncic averaged 25.6 points, 10.1 rebounds, 9.5 assists and shot 43.8% from the floor, while also recording 5 triple-doubles and 11 double-doubles.
This month in eight total games, Luka Doncic has been one of the most dominant players in the entire league, averaging 36.3 points, 10.6 rebounds, 9.4 assists and shooting 46.9% from the floor, 43% from three-point range. Doncic has also recorded 2 triple-doubles in the month of February, as well as 7 double-doubles.
Luka Doncic has scored at least 45 points in three of his last four games and is setting multiple records with his play for the Mavericks this season.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, Luka Doncic joined Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Walt Bellamy as the fourth player in NBA history with multiple 45-point, 15-rebound, 5-assist games in a calendar month and he is the first player to do so since Wilt Chamberlain in 1966.
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Chamberlain, Baylor and Bellamy are all Hall-of-Famers and have 28 combined All-Star appearances amongst them, so it is safe to say that Luka Doncic has joined some pretty good company!
Scoring 49 points on Thursday night against the Pelicans also marked the fourth-time in Luka Doncic’s career that he has scored at least 45 points in a regular season game, third in the last four games, tying him with Mark Aguirre for the most in franchise history. Oddly enough, three of Doncic’s four 45-point games came against the Los Angeles Clippers.
“We can sit here and talk about (Doncic) all day,” head coach Jason Kidd said after Luka’s recent 49-point outing against the Pelicans. “The things that he does on the court for himself (and) for his teammates is incredible.
“I think we’ve used every noun (and) adjective to describe his game, and he just gets better when the stage is big. And he delivered again.”
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Defensively, the Mavericks have been one of the best teams in the league all season long, but offensively, they have really struggled to find consistency. Luka Doncic has been their primary source for scoring and he has contributed to just about 33% of his team’s total points scored in the month of February.
“What he’s doing right now is unbelievable,” Mavericks’ center Maxi Kleber said. “He’s just gifted as a teammate. It’s fun to watch.”
Now 35-24 on the season entering the All-Star break, Luka Doncic has the Mavericks very comfortably in the playoff picture as the 5-seed in the Western Conference, just 1.5 games behind the 4-seed Utah Jazz.
As long as Luka Doncic keeps playing like he is, the Mavericks could definitely wind up hosting a playoff series for the first-time since 2011, which is not only the last time they won a playoff series, but the year that they went on to win their one and only title with Dirk Nowitzki.
