The big departure of Luka Dončić in the NBA

On June 21, in Brooklyn, New York, the draft NBA, the event during which North American basketball league teams choose new college players or championships from Europe. All basketball fans in Europe focused on Luka Dončić, a 19-year-old Slovenian who has been delighting fans for years. play for Real Madrid. Dončić had two extraordinary years behind him, which led many observers to consider him the best young man in European basketball of the 21st century: he had won the European championship with the Slovenian national team, playing a remarkable match after the other. Euroleague (the Champions League Basketball) with Real Madrid, obtaining among others the awards of the best player of the tournament and the best player of the final, goal never reached before.

At the age of 19, Dončić was already considered a superstar in Europe, especially because of his talent and intelligence, who had not seen him for a long time.

the draft However, in June, Dončić was not selected or even first: the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings, the first two teams to choose, are the favorite players of American colleges Deandre Ayton and Marvin Bagley III. Dončić was chosen by the Atlanta Hawks, but they organized an exchange with the Dallas Mavericks to have Trae Young (fifth choice), another interesting college player. Despite his enormous talent, Dončić had not completely convinced American observers, who in previous months had claimed the lack of athleticism and speed: many were convinced that he would not resist the physical reality of the NBA championship, although above what was needed to play. in Europe.

But things have gone differently, at least until now.

Dončić played 19 games with the Dallas Mavericks: his first year – the beginner, who is usually a year of "stabilization" – has already become the most important player in his team's attack and has seen things to leave commentators and fans speechless. In the match played Wednesday and Thursday by Dallas against the Houston Rockets, Dončić scored a three-point goal against James Harden, NBA's best player of last season; he crashed without fear after defeating his defender, among two opponents who tried to stop him; and scored a basket from a distance at the last second of the end of the first half.

Luka presented a show tonight. #MFFL pic.twitter.com/nsCQcXnCbd

– NBA on TNT (@NBAonTNT) November 29, 2018

A few days ago, Dončić was again among the others Highlights of the NBA with a very good game against Kyrie Irving, the Boston Celtics playmaker and one of the strongest players in the entire league. Dončić had resolved an action that seemed to end only badly for Dallas: after 24 seconds – that's the time allotted to the teams for the attack – he silenced Irving, before getting up in place with your feet and mark a very difficult basket more than one meter behind the line of the three points.

The statistics recorded so far by Dončić – specifically: 19 years old in the first year of the NBA – are impressive: 19.1 points per game, with substantial percentages (45% against two and 40% against three), 6 , 5 rebounds and 4.2 badists. But not only the percentages to impress: Dončić has become the player who gives the ball in the last seconds of the actions, when the time runs out, responsibility that usually comes back to the stars or the most experienced teams; This is what creates the game for his companions, showing each game more than a good instinct and a great intelligence, skills used to mask certain athletic limits. It is mainly thanks to him that Dallas, an unambitious team, has a positive relationship between victories and defeats (10 games won, 9 losses) and is in the playoff zone in the fierce Western Conference, the Western Teams Group, which includes much better equipped paper crews.

Dončić's plays in the NBA are probably more surprising than the American public than the Europeans, who have become accustomed in recent years to seeing it and its enormous progress.

Some of the most beautiful actions of Luka Dončić in the NBA, including a remarkable help at 2.23 minutes

Prior to the regular season, many American observers were suspicious and skeptical of Dončić, which had already been done in the past with other European players.

In the NBA, Europeans are often considered "too soft" to resist the rhythms of American basketball. draft young people from American colleges should be privileged, considered safer bets than European players. This mistrust was partly fueled by some precedents: in 2006, for example, the Italian Andrea Bargnani was the first choice of the selection. draftbut his career did not meet the enormous expectations he had created. In 2011, the Spaniard Ricky Rubio arrived in the NBA, considered an incredible talent who was doing great things in Europe: even Rubio, although he was later confirmed as a great player, was not a great player. has failed to establish itself as a big star of the championship. The last case is that of Milos Teodosic, a Serbian playmaker who has dominated Europe for years and who tried two years ago to visit the Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA: his experience was disappointing and Teodosic said he wanted to go back. plays the last years of his career in Europe.

However, in the recent history of the NBA, many cases of non-US players have imposed themselves at very high levels: among others, the German Dirk Nowitzki, the Argentinian Manu Ginobili, the l & # 39; 39 Spanish Pau Gasol and Greek Giannis Antetokounmpo, considered a likely MVP (NBA best player) in the coming years.

Even if he still has a lot of things to improve, for example the control of the ball, Dončić seems to have all the skills to be part of this second group, as noted by several observers and American sports journalists: the site The ringfor example, he published "an ode to Luka Dončić", rewriting the lyrics of the song alleluia by Leonard Cohen. In the revisited version, entitled Hallelukajournalists from The ring they had fun criticizing the choices of the NBA teams who preferred other players to Dončić, saying for example: "Maybe [Dončić] you should have chosen it, even if it is neither black nor muscular. "

In addition to becoming the most important player on his team after only 19 games, Dončić is considered the main candidate to become beginner of the year, that is, the best player of his first year in the NBA. His performances seem to improve from match to match and many coaches and champions, including Mike D & # 39; Antoni (Houston coach) and Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors player), spoke very well of him after playing against us. The impression of many is that Dončić is a special player, with an extraordinary intelligence for his age, who could become one of the most powerful of the next generation of NBA champions.