(Photo by Dave Kotinsky/Getty Images for SiriusXM )
The Dallas Mavericks are one win away from going to the NBA Finals, a place few thought they could get to as recently as a month ago.
From top to bottom, they may be the least talented of the four teams that reached the conference finals, but one player has stood out in the process of getting them to this point.
Luka Doncic had his best year yet in the regular season, and he has continued to shine like a diamond for most of the Western Conference Finals thus far.
In fact, Chris Russo said on ESPN’s “First Take” that Doncic is the second-best player in all of basketball, behind only Nikola Jokic of the Denver Nuggets.
.@MadDogUnleashed says Luka is the second-best player in the league behind Nikola Jokic pic.twitter.com/7QHmUeTphB
— First Take (@FirstTake) May 29, 2024
Doncic led the NBA in scoring while averaging 9.8 assists and 9.2 rebounds a game in the regular season, and he also posted a career-best 3-point accuracy of 38.2 percent.
While Jokic won his third MVP in the last four seasons, some felt Doncic was more deserving of the award.
In the playoffs, he has continued his excellence, and in Game 2 of the West finals versus the Minnesota Timberwolves, he hit the game-winning 3-pointer over Rudy Gobert, this year’s Defensive Player of the Year, with just a few seconds left.
As time goes on, the Slovenia native is reminding more and more people of Hall of Famer Larry Bird — he plays the game at a slow pace, he lacks athleticism, but he is incredibly skilled and seems to have the clutch gene.
Assuming Dallas closes out this series, he could very well elevate his team to its first NBA championship since 2011, even though the Boston Celtics will likely be favored in the championship series.
The post Chris Russo Makes A Bold Statement About Luka Doncic appeared first on The Cold Wire.