DALLAS — What a difference a year makes.
On Friday night, Luka Doncic was named the 2024 NBA Player of the Year at the ESPYs, the final recognition for the Slovenian superstar’s tremendous effort in his sixth season.
Doncic’s preparation for his redemptive season began earlier than he would have liked, with the Dallas Mavericks missing the playInstagramoffs entirely in 2023. Doncic also began another journey during this standout season, as he became a father for the first time in December.
But after Dallas tanked last summer, and everyone questioned his ability to lead the Mavericks with new running mate Kyrie Irving, the Mavericks broke for the 2023-2024 training camp in late September ahead of international pre-season games. Doncic pulled double duty with the Slovenian national team that began in August. The training foreshadowed the year’s on-court rivalry with Shai-Gilgeous Alexander, whose Canadian squad eliminated Slovenia in the FIBA World Cup Semifinals.
That game also featured Doncic getting ejected while the game’s outcome was still in question for making his voice known on missed calls, a running thread that would peak its head throughout the season and playoffs. Old habits die hard.
After breaking camp, Doncic played in the most regular season games (70) since his rookie season and averaged the most minutes in any of his six seasons to date. Across the board, his numbers were the best of his career. Career highs in points (33.9) which led the league, the highest assists per game (9.8), free throw percentage (79%) , three-point percentage (38%), and field goal attempts, all while breaking through the notion that his high volume usage would hurt Irving’s strengths.
The Mavericks’ ascension from likely play-in team to fifth-seed also garnered some late consideration for League Most Valuable Player, an award that he arguably should have won. While Doncic ended up finishing third behind Nikola Jokic and Gilgeous-Alexander, the resulting playoff run broke through the perceived notion of Doncic being an empty stat line for future considerations.
With Doncic at the helm, Dallas dealt the last blow to the Paul George era Los Angeles Clippers, dispatched favored MVP candidate Gilgeous-Alexander’s Oklahoma Thunder, and conquered the new favored face of the league Anthony Edwards and his Minnesota Timberwolves to claim the ever-strong Western Conference and reached the NBA Finals for the first time in his career while holding his body together with duct tape.
Injuries were a part of the story for Doncic, especially in the playoffs where he was dealing with a knee sprain, ailing ankle, and a thoracic contusion that would have cost him weeks of missed time during the regular season. But Doncic pushed through the pain and carried the Mavericks back to the Finals for the first time since 2011, where they would ultimately succumb to the Boston Celtics in five games.
Despite the ailments, Doncic nearly doubled his previous playoff minute high of 552 with 900 minutes logged in 22 games, scoring 635 points in a run that saw the team three wins from immortality. After the tough end to the 2023 season, and with Dallas fighting all year just to make their climb in the West, it was a remarkable show of resilience from a player not often praised for his commitment.
Having his NBA season end in June after some of the most grueling basketball of his life, Doncic delayed a much-needed break to try to get the Slovenian national team into the 2024 Olympics.
That journey ended July 6th, and with it, so too did Doncic’s long year.
Between both commitments, Doncic had continuous basketball activity from August 2023 to July 2024, almost making a complete year of nonstop competition. Doncic now has time for plenty of recovery beers and relaxation in preparation for his seventh NBA season in late October where the expectations have grown.
The league was served notice, with the perception of elite players not wanting to play with the guard squashed over the last two offseasons with Irving electing to stay in Dallas despite having a chance to bail after a failed first foray last spring, and with Klay Thompson choosing the Mavericks over the Los Angeles Lakers this summer.
With the team’s Finals run and corresponding free-agent additions, the expectation is that the Mavericks will be featured near the top of the Western conference again, and the avalanche of broken narratives can finally lead to a serious MVP run for the 25-year-old superstar. For now, though, a well-earned vacation is in order.
Do you think Luka Doncic is in a prime position to win the NBA MVP award in 2025? Share your thoughts with Irvin on X (formerly Twitter) @Twittirv.
