Luka Doncic ended the 2023–24 season leading the Dallas Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals but fell short of winning the championship against the powerhouse Boston Celtics. Achieving such a feat helped him earn the ESPY award for 2024 Best NBA Player and he joins Mavs legend Dirk Nowitzki as the two athletes in the franchise to do so.
According to MFFL Nation, the two international players had a 13-year gap in winning the ESPY award, with Nowitzki taking home the distinction back in 2011, when the German star led the same franchise to its only championship in league history.
Luka Doncic (2024) and Dirk Nowitzki (2011) are the only two Dallas Mavericks players to ever win the "Player of the Year ESPY Award".
Special stuff 👏 pic.twitter.com/gh7dj4obtR
— MFFL NATION (@NationMffl) July 12, 2024
That time, Nowitzki was joined by Jason Kidd, Shawn Marion, Jason Terry and Tyson Chandler. This team were able to delay the Miami Heat’s “Heatles” with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh from winning their first NBA title.
Fast forward to 2024, and Luka Doncic was able to win the same award but was not able to overcome the stacked roster of the Boston Celtics, featuring Jayson Tatum, Jaylen Brown, Jrue Holiday and former Mavs teammate, Kristaps Porzingis.
In just his sixth season in the league at 24 years old, the Slovenian basketball player was able to put up near triple-double averages during the regular season with 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds and 9.8 assists. Doncic spearheaded the team’s attack along with fellow NBA star Kyrie Irving, taking down the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Minnesota Timberwolves before getting stopped by the Boston Celtics in the 2024 NBA Finals.
The stellar performance of Doncic throughout the season and into the playoffs earned him the nod to win the ESPY award, besting other players like Nikola Jokic, Jayson Tatum and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
Luka Doncic excited to have Klay Thompson as teammates in the upcoming 2024-25 season
Missing out on the championship, the Dallas Mavericks made some off-season moves that hope to get them the Larry O’Brien Trophy next season. In doing so, the team negotiated a sign-and-trade to land four-time NBA champion Klay Thompson from the Golden State Warriors.
Hearing the news of his new teammate, Thompson bared that Donic reached out to him one the trade was finalized.
“[Doncic] texted me saying how excited he is, and I relayed the same message back and I think there’s definitely a mutual respect there,” said Thompson during his Mavs introductory press conference.
"There's definitely a mutual respect there."
Klay Thompson speaks on new teammate, Luka Doncic! #OneForDallas | @dallasmavs on @BallySports 📺 pic.twitter.com/gX19hfgoM6
— Bally Sports Southwest (@BallySportsSW) July 9, 2024
Thompson now joins Doncic and Irving, forming the league’s newest ”Big 3″. The second half of the “Splash Brothers” is coming off his last season with the Warriors, averaging 17.9 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.3 assists and 3.5 three-pointers in 77 games.
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