Luka Doncic‘s display in Minnesota, in Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals against the Timberwolves, is still reverberating around the NBA.
The way he dances Rudy Gobert before converting the winning three-pointer for his Mavericks and taking the playoffs to Dallas with a 2-0 lead has forced the North American league to surrender to the Slovenian talent for good.
“Like him or not, Luka Doncic is that guy,” headlined The Athletic.
But in reality, despite the fact that he is writing his sixth NBA season, Luka is little known.
Because of his reserved nature and because the public and critics in the United States often focus the spotlight on other names, Doncic escapes their understanding.
The Athletic caught up with Jason Kidd, coach of the Mavs, in the corridors of the Target Center where the Slovenian had just performed his latest magic trick. And there he was asked the question, “This kid? What’s he like?”
“He’s very observant. He’s got those Dumbo ears, he hears everything. He hears the guy in the front row and the guy in row 20. He’ll find that person and that will motivate him. I’ve seen it with Gary Payton. GP would find that fan to get fired up, and then once he’s fired up, he’s fired up. And then the coaches just sit back, because now that fan has done his part,” said Kidd, who was a Dallas player the last time they played in the NBA Finals, in 2011, and can now repeat his presence from the bench.
On the criticism of Doncic, Kidd bluntly brushes it off: “When you look at Luka‘s work, the only complaint everyone talks about is his complaining and talking to the refs. I mean, all the great ones talked to the refs. Some did it better. Some do it where everyone can see it. But when you look at his game, I don’t know what you can criticize about. He can post. He can pass. He’s got that fire that I think sometimes can be taken out of context. It’s just understanding that he wants to win. He’s not afraid of anybody and sometimes that can scare people.”
The coach understands Doncic both on and off the court, where his character means few know how to describe him.
But Jason Kidd has found a foolproof recipe: “If you want Luka to talk, you talk to him about Real Madrid“. In love with his Madrid, Doncic is in love from across the pond with every game of the Whites, whether soccer or basketball, and actively demonstrates it on social networks.
But that ‘fanaticism’ also has a dark side that Kidd takes advantage of to sting the Slovenian: “If you want to piss him off, you talk about Barcelona. If you know the rivalry with Real Madrid and Barcelona, you know how to poke the bear a little bit. So I was joking with him today and I say, ‘Man, I think I’m going to take the Barcelona job. Did you see how they fired the coach (for Xavi Hernandez),'” he joked.
Doncic has an exciting Sunday ahead of him. First he can see Real Madrid win the EuroLeague again (against Panathinaikos, 8 p.m.) and a little later, in Dallas, he can make it 3-0 in the Conference Finals and put a foot and a half in the NBA Finals for the first time.
