The Siren's Call: Mavs' Luka Doncic and Taming the Beast Within the Boy
DALLAS - Bellicose winds had gathered outside the American Airlines Center last Friday evening, nipping and biting at the fans who were taking to the exits in short huffs of frustration a full half before the final buzzer echoed.
Inside, piercing silver flushed out the amber in his eyes when Luka Doncic shot his face to the left, arms akimbo in frustration, brows furrowed to the point of Shakespearean madness. Exasperation takes its toll, and as the 20-year-old turns to move to the opposite end of the court, his eyes go blank as he lowers his head slightly. Without warning, he reaches up, dueling hands grip his own jersey and rrrriiiiippppppp:
Doncic, the wide-eyed Slovenian wunderkind, suddenly looks like a V-neck wearing actor on the cusp of landing the role of "Italian diner #3" in Martin Scorsese's next film.
Doncic had just missed a pair of free throws toward the end of the second quarter (of what would be a blowout loss to the Lakers) and, as usual, failed to mask his frustration, which did absolutely nothing for the already pseudo-aesthetic appeal of the "City'' jersey itself.
The only time Doncic's face becomes a veil of nonchalant blankness is when the lens of a camera is shoved directly in front of it. ... While on the court, he became Daenerys Targaryen upon hearing the bells when a foul on his person goes uncalled. And just like the septic tank leak that was the entire final season of Game of Thrones, this could all end up an expensive stain smeared on hardwood in those games that turn into losses.
The problem, all dark and umber-like, is this: Luka wears a billboard sign on his back that simply reads "BULLY ME, PLEASE". The sign is invisible to him, his team, his coaches, and to referees.
And it's a trap. But not in the way you would think.
Despite his youth, Doncic is a restive tsunami wearing a baby-face disguise as he sneers at blind-folded officials, begging them to break rank in order to make an example of them. This week's dueling wins in the West showcased this in fragments, if you looked close enough.
On his shoulder, fresh scratch marks blazed scarlet under the lights of the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, which only seemed to highlight the invisible sign. With less than six minutes remaining in the third against the Kings on Wednesday, Luka, with his Peter Pan gift-wrapped stubbornness, tossed the ball hard out of bounds, almost pleading with the refs to blink hard at the sign.
But nothing. No tech was given. The Mavs went on to beat the lackluster Kings 127-123 while Luka became the second-fastest player to hit 20 triple-doubles. That game for the Mavs was nothing more than a highlight reel of startling Luka-filled moments against a team who foolishly let the boy slide from their hook-wielding grasp.
While the last three wins provided solid reason why people fall all over themselves for Doncic (and yes, I'm including the win over the Golden State Warriors where Luka had an "off" night, finishing with only 20 points on 8-of-19 shooting, eight rebounds, and two assists), the ghost of the previous losses that came before still scream loudly, especially when you start to see Bruce Banner warning signs of a Luka temper flareup.
During the Mavs last loss, the Lakers were able to needle Doncic into a frenzied state of circumvention, forcing him to give up six turnovers and mutilate the precious thread count of his jersey. The thing is, it's not difficult to do - to bring out the beast in the boy. And even as Dallas sits at midseason on a 52-win pace, that could be frightening in the long run.
When Doncic allows others to get under his skin, he tends to get inside his OWN head and do things like, say, miss four of five free throws and kick up enough dust to get head coach Rick Carlisle all worked up, which only frustrates him even further, shifting the tsunami inward instead of outward.
Other teams know that in order to stop the best offense in the NBA, defenses desperately need to take the ball out of Doncic's hands, especially in the clutch. This was showcased best in the Mavs' 107-106 loss to the Denver Nuggets on Jan. 8. After Luka finally had the ball, he was quickly double-teamed by Jerami Grant and Torrey Craig, which drove Doncic to get out of it by passing to Dorian Finney-Smith in the far corner from center court. As we know, Finney-Smith ended up throwing the ball away on an aimless pass as the clock hit zero and the Mavs lost by a single point.
This frustrates Doncic, and suddenly, you have Pan flying about in an ominous fit as others try to reign him in. When he's good, he's great. When he's great, he's 'effing luminous. But when he's angry, he can be shoved into turning on himself, and that's a problem that will be nullified. The calming will come with age. It's not about his basketball brilliance: it's about time itself.
Luka seems to recognize all of this.
“My thing is, I’m passionate for the game,” Doncic said in early December. “I want to win, and sometimes I get out of control just because I want to win the whole time. I’m competitive. You can ask my family. Even if it’s not basketball, it’s anything, I’m so competitive, so yeah I’ve got to work on that, for sure.”
But for now? Because he sometimes youthfully bullies himself as we all have, Luka has found a peevish way to irritate other teams and their clarion-call bullhorns, those who like to slash away at his power with stupid whines about these temper flareups, more often than not mistaking his brilliant skillset with the number that is his age.
Carlisle put it best when asked about Bayless' vomit-inducing tweet: "I think we have to understand that he's still young. He's mature beyond his years in terms of how he sees the game and his skill set and how he can do things on the floor, but..."
But Peter Pan, while making history with his gravity-bending talents, is still young and allows emotions to drive his entire being. It's a given. Does that make him any less magical, though?
Hell no.
And with time and age, this will correct itself. But for now, we track the beast carefully and watch as the boy learns to control it, ultimately becoming unstoppable.
