MINNEAPOLIS — Luka Doncic always wanted what was asked of him in Game 2 on Friday. The weight of a decisive shot resting on his shoulders is a pressure for most others, but an accelerator for him. He was always up to the challenge.
And in the Western Conference Finals — a place he’s been but never quite like this, just two wins away from the NBA Finals with two home games remaining — he rose higher than the rafters. It was Dončić’s step back from 3 points Rudy Gobert who sank the Minnesota Timberwolvesa cliché that cemented a 109-108 victory in game two for the Dallas Mavericks in what was once an 18-point first-half deficit.
In the next moments, Dončić screamed with all his heart. He roared at Rudy Gobert, who later claimed he couldn’t hear him over the stunned silence of the Target Center crowd. Anyone on the Mavericks will tell you about Dončić’s dislike of the French center. He said, according to lip readers and field audio recordings, “You can’t protect me,” with much more profanity. Then, when the final buzzer sounded, he told Timberwolves fans to go home. He said goodbyes that were far from jokes. Amid the strange ownership void within the Timberwolves, Dončić argued Friday that he should fill it.
Asked later about his alleged on-field comments to Gobert, Dončić replied: “I didn’t say that. I spoke Slovenian. Then he smiled wryly, which looked an awful lot like that knowing smile you give when you’re not being entirely honest.
Dončić leads the new era of this league. He’s the best player 25 or younger, one of the best players of this era, with a chance to cement that arbitrary title as the first of this new generation to win the NBA Finals if he can finish this series against Minnesota. He made the All-NBA first team for five consecutive seasons. He is really this guy.
But what that means depends entirely on perspective.
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While Dončić may have been created in a lab to win basketball games, he is not a perfect superstar like the NBA reportedly grown from test tubes. Dončić probably mercilessly mocked your favorite team. He certainly shouted victorious four-letter words at them. He takes advantage of his emotions on the field while using his brain’s ability to solve calculations in the moment, even if he has difficulty talking about it.
“I don’t know, man. I… just ask me one more question, man,” Dončić said after Friday’s victory, when asked about his success to the rim. “I don’t know. I was just attacking. I don’t know. Do you have any other questions?”
There are also reasons to dislike Doncic. He chases away mistakes, sometimes to his detriment. He throws his head back to get whistles if subtle, or even effective, contact is made against him. He talks to everyone in his orbit when he’s out in the field. He had several run-ins with Oklahoma City Thunder Fans shouted obscenities at the Minnesota crowd when no one really seemed to trigger it specifically. This is a man who, during the last series, said it “got him going” when opposing fans chanted derogatory chants at him. He once even singled out a Lil Wayne on the field. It doesn’t matter who or what for Dončić to find an ersatz motivation against whoever he wants.
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Doncic has long struggled with his conditioning. He can sometimes spend possessions on defense before sprinting down the court when he sees a step-back 3 opportunity waiting for him. And Dončić has lost many matches over the years, leading to far too much debate about the impact he has on winning. He sometimes hangs around on the defensive end and he backtracks on transition opportunities, sometimes because he finds it more interesting to berate a referee instead. He hasn’t always been seen as the man of the people despite his seemingly humble physique, which doesn’t appear to be gifted other than his 6’7 frame. All of this contributes to how Doncic is perceived.
It also underestimates what is most important. This playoff run may soon have us wondering if Dončić is the best basketball player in the world.
When Dončić arrived at the “Inside the NBA” booth, the hosts even prompted him to talk about Gobert himself. “I can’t go fast, but I can go faster than him,” Dončić replied. His step-back jumper, the one that won Dallas the game and gave it a 2-0 series lead, looked more like an equation on a spreadsheet for generating a sizzling chemical reaction. Dončić continued to move back and forth between his legs until he created enough space to shoot. And pull on it, and nail on it, he did it.
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Teams that win the first two games of a conference final are 58-6 all-time, so the stage is set for the league’s most polarizing North Star to advance to a place where he never was. While his on-court opponent hesitated after Michael Jordan’s name was invoked, Dončić continued to make the case that he was the next face of the league. His style makes some fans feel more aggrieved than understanding, but imperfection is often what we accept from our major sports figures over time. After all, Jordan himself was an incredibly flawed figure turned golden over time.
Whether you love Dončić or hate him, whether you’re frustrated by him or mesmerized by the parade, Dončić made sure of one thing on the basketball court: he doesn’t care if he’s not liked from everyone, but he’s going to make sure he’s respected.
On Friday, that’s precisely what he did.
(Top photo: Jesse Johnson / USA Today)
