Like it or not, Luka Dončić is that guy (2024)

The Athletic has live coverage of the Mavericks vs. Timberwolves in Game 5 of the Western Conference finals

MINNEAPOLIS — Luka Dončić has always craved what was asked of him in Friday’s Game 2. The weight of a decisive shot swathed upon his shoulders is pressure for most others, but an accelerant for him. He has always risen as high as the stakes.

And in the Western Conference finals — a place he has been but never quite like this, just two wins away from the NBA Finals with two incoming home games — he rose higher than the rafters. It was Dončić’s stepback 3-pointer over Rudy Gobert that sunk the Minnesota Timberwolves, a shot that cemented a 109-108 Game 2 win for the Dallas Mavericks in what was once an 18-point first-half deficit.

In the following moments, Dončić screamed from his soul. He roared at Rudy Gobert, who claimed afterwards he couldn’t hear him despite the stunned silence of the Target Center crowd. Anyone on the Mavericks will tell you about Dončić’s dislike for the French center. He said, according to lip-readers and on-court audio, “You can’t guard me,” just with much more profanity. Then, when the final buzzer sounded, he demanded Timberwolves fans go home. He screeched out farewells that were far from pleasantries. Amid the bizarre ownership void within the Timberwolves, Dončić made his case on Friday that he should fill it.

Asked afterwards about his supposed on-court comments to Gobert, Dončić said, “I didn’t say that. I was speaking Slovenian.” Then he smiled wryly, which seemed awfully like that knowing grin you make when you’re not entirely honest.

Dončić is leading this league’s new era. He’s the best player 25 or under, one of the best players of this era, with a chance to solidify this arbitrary title as the first of this new generation to win the NBA Finals if he can complete this series against Minnesota. He’s made first-team All-NBA in five consecutive seasons. He really is that guy.

But what that means depends entirely upon perspective.

While Dončić might have been created in a laboratory to win basketball games, he isn’t some prim-and-proper superstar the NBA would have grown from test tubes. Dončić has probably ruthlessly mocked your favorite team. He’s certainly screamed victorious four-letter words at them. He benefits from his emotions on the court while using his brain’s ability to solve calculus in the moment, even as he struggles to talk about it.

“I don’t know, man. I just … ask me some other question, man,” Dončić said after Friday’s win when asked about his success getting to the rim. “I don’t know. I was just attacking. I don’t know. Do you have any other questions?”

There are reasons to dislike Dončić, too. He hunts fouls, sometimes to his own detriment. He snaps back his head to earn whistles if subtle, if not effective, contact is made against him. He talks smack to anyone within his orbit when he’s on the court. He had multiple run-ins with Oklahoma City Thunder fans, screamed obscenities to Minnesota’s crowd despite no one really seeming to set him off specifically. This is a man who, last series, said it “gets (him) going” when opposing fans chant derogatorily at him. He once even singled out a courtside Lil Wayne. It doesn’t matter who or what for Dončić to find ersatz motivation against whoever he wants.

Dončić has long struggled with his conditioning. He can sometimes spend possessions waddling around on defense before sprinting down the court when he sees an opportunity for a stepback 3 awaiting him. And Dončić has lost plenty of games over the years, which have sparked far too many debates about the impact he even has on winning. He does loaf on the defensive end sometimes and he does lallygag his way back on transition opportunities, sometimes because he finds it more interesting to berate a referee instead. He’s not always seen the man of the people despite his humble-seeming physique, one which does not appear gifted other than his 6’7 frame. All this contributes to how Dončić has been perceived.

It also undersells what’s most important. This postseason run could soon be making us all ask whether Dončić is the best basketball player alive.

When Dončić arrived at the ‘Inside the NBA’ booth, the hosts egged him even into talking about Gobert himself. “I can’t move fast, but I can move faster than him,” Dončić replied. His stepback jumper, the one that won Dallas the game and gave it a 2-0 series lead, felt more like a spreadsheet equation to generate a sizzling chemical reaction. Dončić kept crossing back and forth between his legs until he had created enough space to shoot it. And shoot it, and nail it, he did.

Teams that win the first two games in a conference finals are 58-6 all time, so the stage is set for the league’s most polarizing north star to ascend to a place he’s never been. As his opponent across the court has faltered after Michael Jordan’s name was invoked, Dončić has continued to make the case that he is the league’s next face. His style causes some fans to feel closer to aggrieved than understanding, but imperfection is often what we accept from our leading sports figures as times goes on. After all, Jordan himself was an incredibly imperfect figure turned golden over the passage of time.

Whether you like Dončić or hate him, find yourself frustrated with him or mesmerized by the parade, Dončić has made sure of one thing on the basketball court: He doesn’t care if he’s not liked by everybody, but he is going to make sure he’s respected.

On Friday, that’s precisely what he did.

(Top photo: Jesse Johnson / USA Today)

Tim Cato is a staff writer at The Athletic covering the Dallas Mavericks. Previously, he wrote for SB Nation. Follow Tim on Twitter @tim_cato