Dallas Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd opened up on the maturity and growth of franchise superstar Luka Doncic in the last two seasons after the franchise returned to the Conference Finals after their last appearance in 2022.
“He was probably on the cusp of being one of the best players in the world then, but now he’s one of the best players in the world. He’s older, his maturity, he’s seen every defense, the double teams.”
Kidd added that the experience of the last two seasons has helped Doncic understand what needs to be done better.
“Being able to use his experience here, the experience of going through the last couple of years. Understanding ’22, then last year, and now being able to use those two years to get to where we are today. I think he’s different in that way. He’s worked on his game and he’s gotten better.”
Luka Doncic is averaging 27.3 points, 9.7 rebounds, and 9.1 assists in the 2024 Playoffs. Despite these numbers looking excellent, this is the worst production run of Doncic’s career as he has dealt with injuries to his ankle, knee, and back.
He seemed to have gotten healthier by the end of the OKC Thunder series, putting up masterful triple-doubles in Games 5 and 6 to send the Mavs to the Conference Finals.
Doncic averaged 31.7 points, 9.8 rebounds, and 6.4 assists in the 2022 Playoffs, taking a much larger personal load to create offense for the limited roster he had then unilaterally.
His individual excellence enabled that run, but a more mature Doncic has trusted teammates like Kyrie Irving, Derrick Jones Jr., PJ Washington, and Dereck Lively II more to enable winning this time around.
