Luka Dončić = The Best Player in the NBA

I already said this a couple of years ago, around midway through his rookie season, on a since-obsolete Disqus forum.  Luka Doncic is the best player in the NBA.  There's practice and working out and all that shit, and then there's just natural talent.  Does that mean I'd pick him as my franchise cornerstone if I could build any team I wanted?  Honestly, I'd prolly go with Giannis instead.  But that doesn't mean that I think Giannis is a better player in Luka.

The funny thing is that all the signs were already there for this to happen.  I know that the Euroleague doesn't have as many Black dudes, at least percentage-wise, as the NBA does.  But that's part of the problem, that Europeans don't even look like they can play basketball.  You would never look at somebody like Pau Gasol or Tony Parker or Rudy Gobert and say to yourself, 'yes, that's future Hall of Famer right there".  Even Dirk didn't look formidable until he grew a little diesel with age.  I vividly remember once matching up against a European dude, in the university gym, who is of the same modest size as myself.  And things got so bad that I had to win by cheating.

I believe that part of the problem is that it would be hard for any established superstar to play under Doncic.  There are very few players, maybe even only one or two, who if they went to Dallas right now would demand the same billing as Luka, even though he has seniority.  For everyone else, it would clearly be a case of 'you're on Luka's team' now.  And I'm not trying to sound racist or anything, but I believe the reason some superstars couldn't accept this fact earlier, that he's the best player in the game, is because Luka is white and European.  Most players who come into the NBA with a lot of hype have to prove themselves, but Luka didn't, since he was already one of the best players right off the bat.  Luka is so good that pundits can just ignore him in the MVP conversation, because by all means, barring injury, he'll be there next year also.

CONCLUSION

But I guess the mark of any legend-level great player is being able to at least lead a mediocre team to the Finals.  LBJ did it during his first stint with the Cavs.  AI did it with a cast of role players (and Dikembe).  Magic did it with Kareem injured.  And as balanced as the 1st three-peat Bulls may have been, spread throughout they damn sure weren't the best team in the NBA.  And the Mavs right now, at least as far as I know, are strong on the wings but weak upfront.  So that's my way of saying that based on what's been happening recently, I don't think any team except maybe the Suns would actually want to draw the Mavs in the playoffs.