Dallas Mavs Coach Jason Kidd: 'I Wish I Was Luka Doncic'
DALLAS — After moving on from former coach Rick Carlisle, the Dallas Mavericks sought to pair a legendary former NBA point guard in Jason Kidd in the vacant role to maximize Luka Doncic's potential.
Doncic has achieved both remarkable and rather unprecedented results to begin his NBA career. Between earning two All-NBA First-Team nominations as well as entering consecutive seasons considered by many as an MVP-favorite, Doncic has done some truly incredible things.
“At 22, he’s way better than I was at that age,” Kidd told Mavs.com. “Do I wish I was Luka? Yes.
“I wish I was that tall and that strong.”
Between his precision when running pick-and-rolls, drilling stepback jumpers, or converting the iconic "Dirk" one-legged turnaround jumper, Doncic has just about everything imaginable in his arsenal. On top of all that, he has a 'competitive spirit' that Kidd greatly admires.
“I love his competitive spirit,” Kidd said. “I love that he wants to win at all cost. When you have that type of spirit with his skill set, it’s a beautiful thing.
“But again, it’s to help him with some of the smaller things with the game within the game, and hopefully that leads to us winning a championship.”
It appears as though Doncic has a counter for every approach an on-ball defender throws his way or whichever scheme a defense deploys. He has shown precisely that time and time again when stacked up with an elite LA Clippers defense, even when they went small with Nicolas Batum at the five spot.
The next step for the Mavericks will be to surround Doncic with sufficient talent for him to lead the team to a lengthy playoff run. He will surely continue to get better in his career, but having enough support is pivotal for any player — no matter how talented.
