Luka Doncic Just Faced the Inevitable
It brings me no pleasure to write about a Boston Celtics title. I'm a bitter Los Angeles Lakers fan, and there are just some deep prejudices I stand by (like how Hawaiian-style pizza has always been and always will be amazing). But to their credit, the Celts were unequivocally the most dominant team in the league this season, and maybe even ever.
Under Coach Joe Mazulla, they went for 80 wins and 21 losses (good for 79 percent) and joined legendary teams like the'87 Lakers (80-20), '86 Celtics (82-18),'17 Golden State Warriors (83-16), 'and 96 Chicago Bulls (87-13), among others, atop of the most elite teams in National Basketball Association (N.B.A.) history based on overall win percentage. That 18th banner is well-deserved and this is coming from a Lakers guy.
But just as a basketball fan, the most rewarding part of this Celtics run may have been getting to see Jaylen Brown silence his doubters (I've always been a JB truther; who cares if he can't go left!). They're a hard team to hate, really, just because they have a ton of cool, high-character dudes (it's hard to root against Jayson Tatum, Al Horford, and Jrue Holiday, after all). But for the Celts, I can always try.
That should be enough praise for now. Everyone's written about them anyway. Still, I can't really say that it was as entertaining as a series as I hoped it would be. Although I could say the same about the entire playoffs apart from, say, the Denver Nuggets-Minnesota Timberwolves (my personal favorite) or the New York Knicks-Philadelphia 76ers series. But the Dallas Mavericks, for what it's worth, authored a magical playoff run in their own right. They sent the L.A. Clippers packing; had the Oklahoma City Thunder reeling; and effectively ended the T-Wolves' own Cinderella run to the conference finals.
What a masterclass of a season from the Slovenian. We can expect him to be in MVP form well into his 30s, I predict.
Through it all, we watched Kyrie become the Kyrie of old. At times, it felt like P.J. Washington and Derick Jones Jr. hit every big shot when they were down in the fourth. Daniel Gafford and Derek Lively were playing out of their minds. The alley-oops (a stat they actually led the playoffs in) were good, stupid fun. J-Kidd became one hell of a defensive coach for some reason, switching up the team's entire identity.
Of course, it was Luka Doncic who had orchestrated the Mavs' brilliance all post-season long. At the age of 25, he produced a season for the ages, averaging 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists during the regular season then following that up with 28.9/9.5/8.1 averages during the playoffs. Ridiculous. A filthy, punishing old-man game paired beautifully with a masterful low dribble, deceptive quickness, and high basketball I.Q. He was punking defenses at will.
These finals, of course, was a different story for Doncic and the Mavs. For starters, it was a tough matchup for Kyrie, having to deal with all the Celts' wings. Made even more glaring was just how few players the Mavs had who could make a shot down the stretch. Washington and the other role guys like Maxi Kleber suddenly went cold. Seemed like nobody could buy a bucket late and whenever the Celts went on the run, the Mavs just couldn't stop them (I mean, when Payton Pritchard's hitting half-court shots like that and Sam Hauser hitting three after three, that's even tougher).
Kidd, likewise, shares some of the blame. He struggled to counter Boston's best runs, and by the end of it, he was struggling to put on a decent rotation both on offense and defense. The Celtics offense, even without K.P. for the most part, was brutal for the Dallas D. The firepower was too much. The Mavs regressed back to being the problematic fifth seed we thought they were heading into the finals.
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Doncic, who was sensational offensively, just couldn't get them over the hump. He'd be widely (and validly) criticized, too, for his lackadaisical defense at times. His off-ball play still leaves much to be desired, as well. The turnovers were bad (he averaged five a game) and ISO ball just isn't as fun to watch when the rest of the team is stinking up the place. He cries way too much to the refs. Way. Too. Much. Most annoyingly, he's kind of unreliable from the free-throw line. Brian Windhorst's brutal takedown, whether you like it or not, definitely had some truth to it.
But hey, we're nitpicking here. He averaged 29/9/6 on 47/24/59 shooting splits. The thing is, Luka just, unfortunately, felt human after being a God among men just about 90 percent of the season. It's not that he couldn't have figured it out, but he just hit the proverbial wall every great has to go through before they're ready to win. The lowest-seeded team ever to win a championship was the '95 Houston Rockets, and teams in this position almost always fail when the lights get brighter. This year, Dallas was a pleasant surprise.
Make no mistake, Doncic and the Mavs' finals run is a modern anomaly. We haven't seen many 25-year-olds make it this far as the number one option. A 22-year-old LeBron James did it in 2007, when it felt like he was still a year away from being a year away. All of a sudden, he finds himself in the finals against an established team with a great foundation, getting swept, and having to shoulder the burden of a less-than-stellar roster. The parallels with Luka here are uncanny, albeit for, you know, the Mavs getting at least one game out of it.
Magic might have done it at 22, but he did have Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Larry Bird did it at 24, but he did have Kevin McHale, Robert Parish, and then-Finals Most Valuable Player (M.V.P.) Cedrick Maxwell. Tim Duncan won his first chip in 1999 at the age of 22, with the Admiral by his side. See, you usually need another hall-of-famer to get over the hump, and we've seen this time and time again for young stars. If we go through N.B.A. history, we'd find it hard to find someone this young winning it all by himself (Maybe Kareem on Milwaukee in '71, but again, he did have Oscar Robertson). Championships are a function of management, coaching, health, players, and a whole lot of luck. Sadly, Luka's luck would run out at the most inopportune time.
Lest we forget though that, to be this good at this age, is insane. He's done some unprecedented stuff at the age of 25. He's hit five straight All-N.B.A. First Team selections, dazzled us with a flurry of game-winners and gave us some of the best moments in the N.B.A. during the 2020s—his 73 piece against the Atlanta Hawks, the 60-20-10 game against the Knicks, and just a ton of other absurd moments and milestones. He's been a certified killer, to say the least. Hell, Luka could've been the M.V.P. if not for Nikola Jokic's dominance. While I'd never expect the Mavs star to be a Defensive Player of the Year candidate, he's shown flashes of good defense within certain schemes. Imagine what his prime could look like in a few years.
The N.B.A. is only going to get tougher from here. Wemby's coming (good grief). Give Jokic a retooled roster and he'll always contend. The Celtics will still be here. That young Thunder squad has a few more years to reach their absolute peak collectively. The Wolves, you never know. The West is going to get even more crowded than it already is. As long as he's there though, Luka will have the Mavs in the mix.
But windows can always close, just like that. And Dallas is going to have to figure out how to resign Jones and improve overall bench production. They might need another facilitator and shooter, after witnessing dismal performances from their go-to guys on the N.B.A.'s biggest stage. Doncic has a lot of off-season work to do, as well. He'll need to be in shape by the time the Olympics comes around, and maybe that carries over to next year. Here's to hoping, too, that those nagging injuries are gone in the days leading up to training camp.
Ultimately, we often forget that we must allow players to grow into greatness. But the thing with Doncic is, he's always been ahead of schedule. This year, he's reminded us of that once again. All the great ones always find a way to break through. Luka, when he finally does win a chip, will be no different. That's inevitable.
