When Luka Doncic made his NBA debut, Dirk Nowitzki was one month away from his fortieth birthday. It was the last season of one of the greatest legends of the competition, a before and after. The most important player in the history of the Dallas Mavericks, after 21 seasons, said goodbye to basketball. Behind him, 1522 games, 31560 points, 14 All Star, an MVP and the ring, the only one on the franchise record. Eternal glory and endless emptiness, as in any farewell of such dimensions. Donnie Nelson, general manager Of the franchise, however, he did not fear the new era. The same eyes that, two decades earlier, had absorbed themselves with the movements of the German power forward, now did so with those of a young Slovenian point guard who, at 19, had already won everything in Europe. It followed him from day one. To be exact, since his third game as a professional, and he was clear that he should be his choice in the Draft when the time has come, he should be the one who, over time, chose (because you can never do more than that) to fill that void future: “I had this feeling and I thought I could play organizer, that it was like a cross between Magic and Bird. That’s the first thing I saw. That and that it was a triple-double machine.” He recalled this season about his first notes in the scout book.
Luca and Dirk were able to share a season, as a staging of that relay that only time will judge. Although the revolutions are high, it is still early; but the line of succession had to be that. Dallas did everything possible to place itself in a privileged place in the lottery of the Draft and, a fine of $ 600,000 and exchange in between, he achieved his goal: 24 wins, thirteenth place, Trae Young and Doncic. The following course, as a preamble to everything that has happened since, was already something else: 33 victories and a feeling of a project in fermentation. For Dirk, 7.3 points and 3.1 rebounds as a goodbye; for Luka, 21,2 + 7,8 + 6 and many teachings. 21 years of European leadership shook his hand and invited him to continue on the same path; although he had to earn it.
In the Bill Simmons podcast (The Ringer), the German legend has assured that his first impressions when watching Doncic play were a mixture of doubts and certainties. He was aware of his potential, shown more than enough in ACB and Euroleague; but it was not clear to him that his style of play could explode within the prevailing systems and among the more physical profiles of the United States. Then the hesitations were short-lived. “Getting ready for that draft, I could only see some highlights in him. I thought, ‘Oh, he looks big for a point guard, but I don’t know if he’ll be able to keep up with the athletic pace that is demanded here. He doesn’t look like the fastest, he has easily outplayed his rivals in the Euroleague, but the defenders in the NBA are somewhat different‘. I didn’t really know that very well, but I also thought that he could become a very skilled player, a great exterior. He didn’t know he was actually faster than he looked, and he didn’t know how good a passer and shooter he was. So it surprised me on several levels. “Nowitzki assures the American journalist.
That step-back, that false slowness, that gift to score in the crucial moments … Dirk, like the rest of the NBA, needed little time to realize how special the former Real Madrid player was. In your case, yes, remember the exact moment in which you noticed it. He did not expect it and provoked it himself the first time he had: in the first “training” with Doncic: “He came to the preparation field, and you know, before the preseason starts, a couple of weeks before, the players exercise together, five against five … The first day, he (Doncic) was already playing great and leaving great I fixed my gaze on him and said to myself, “I have to test him a bit.” I fouled him quite hard and sent him to the free throw line. I walked up to him and started trash-talking: ‘There’s no way you’re going to take these two free throws.’ He just smiled at me and didn’t say anything. And he scored those two shots. So, he immediately earned my respect for his composure, for how mature he was when he was 19 years old. “, tells the German legend. Past, present and future.
