Mavs Luka Doncic Makes 1st-Team All-NBA
DALLAS - The stunning two-season rise of Luka Doncic has been capped by the NBA having announced on Wednesday the All-NBA teams, with the 21-year-old Dallas Mavericks' phenom taking his place alongside a pair of unanimous selections in MVP candidates Giannis Antetokounmpo and LeBron James.
There are no arguments against Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and James of the Los Angeles Lakers. And now, Doncic - who has captained the Mavs' turnaround from a franchise that went nearly a half-decade without making an NBA Playoffs appearance before doing so this season - sits in a spot where there are increasingly no arguments against him, either.
The other two first-team selections are the Lakers' Anthony Davis and James Harden of the Houston Rockets.
On the All-NBA Second Team are Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic, Los Angeles Clippers star Kawhi Leonard, the Portland TrailBlazers' Damian Lillard, guard Chris Paul of the Oklahoma City Thunder and Pascal Siakam of the Toronto Raptors.
On the All-NBA Third Team are the Philadelphia Sixers' Ben Simmons, Jayson Tatum of the Boston Celtics, Rudy Gobert of the Utah Jazz, the Rockets' Russell Westbrook and Jimmy Butler of the Miami Heat.
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Doncic is the first player named to the All-NBA First Team in either his first or second season since Tim Duncan in 1998-99 (Duncan made the First Team in each of his first eight seasons from 1997-98 to 2004-05).
Doncic finished the regular season with averages of 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists in 61 games (all starts), becoming just the third player in NBA history to average at least 28-9-8 for a full season (joining Oscar Robertson and Russell Westbrook).
At the beginning of the season, Mavs coach Rick Carlisle said there is no one he'd trade Luka Doncic for. It was an interesting statement then. It's an increasingly factual one now.
