Michael Jordan needed seven seasons to win his first title. LeBron James needed nine seasons and two futile trips to the NBA Finals before he became a champion. Shaquille O鈥橬eal got swept in his first finals. And the newly crowned champion Boston Celtics lost the finals in 2022 and lost in the Eastern Conference finals last year before breaking through now.
The lesson, as everyone knows: Winning the biggest prize almost always takes time. Not always. But usually.
Such is the reality for Luka Doncic. At 25, he already is , if not the very best of the bunch. But he鈥檚 not a champion. Not yet.
The wait for his first championship will extend until at least 2025, which really shouldn鈥檛 be all that surprising. Doncic and the Dallas in this series against the Celtics; one was a 50-win team that caught fire at the end of the regular season, the other was a 64-win team that was better than everyone from the very beginning. The smart money said Dallas would fall in these finals, and that鈥檚 what happened. It ended Monday night in Boston, the , an 18-point margin for their record-setting 18th title.
鈥淭hey鈥檙e a great team. They have been together for a long time, and they had to go through everything, so we just got to look at them, see how they play, the maturity, and they have some great players,鈥� . 鈥淲e can learn from that. We've got to fight next season.鈥�
Let鈥檚 be clear: Losing these NBA Finals should in no way be an indictment of Doncic. He could have played better, of course. Smarter at times, for certain. He spent some of the finals arguing too often with referees. He knows that. That said, letting a finals loss take anything away from the first six years of his body of NBA work would be ridiculous.
He鈥檚 scored 11,470 points so far, 15th most of anyone through their first six NBA seasons. Throw in his 3,472 rebounds and 3,317 assists, and Oscar Robertson is the only other player with such stats from Year 1 through Year 6. James came close. Jordan came close. But they didn鈥檛 have those numbers.
It鈥檚 not like this needs explaining, but just in case: Doncic 鈥� already a five-time All-NBA first-team selection 鈥� is on an absolute Hall of Fame trajectory.
鈥淗e鈥檚 played as best as he can despite the circumstances, just injuries and stuff,鈥� Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving said earlier in these finals. 鈥淗e鈥檚 been giving it his all."
Doncic played through knee and ankle issues in the playoffs. He had a thoracic contusion that required painkilling injections to get through the NBA Finals. He wasn鈥檛 at his best, and he would have had to be otherworldly for Dallas to have had a real chance in this series.
He finished the playoffs as the leader in points, rebounds and assists anyway. Not the Mavs' leader, the NBA's leader.
鈥淗e's one of the best players in the world, and so I think the biggest thing for him is that we all would like to be healthy, but there鈥檚 going to be bumps and bruises along the way,鈥� Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said. 鈥淪o, for him at the age of 25 to get to the finals, to be playing his basketball at the level that he鈥檚 playing, now it鈥檚 just being consistent. ... When you have one of the best players in the world, you should be always fighting for a championship.鈥�
The Mavs felt that Doncic was the real MVP of the league this season, and their argument was compelling even though it . Kidd says Doncic's greatness gets taken for granted, which may be true. When Doncic gets it going, it's must-watch TV. He makes scoring look as easy as anyone has in this generation. He's not a high-flyer like Jordan, not someone who plays with the force, flair and power like James does. But when he's on, forget it.
He might not be 鈥渢he鈥� face of the league. But he's in the conversation, especially globally. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver watched Doncic closely on the day before the finals started and, in his own words, came away with yet another 鈥渆xample of how international this league is.鈥�
鈥沦辞尘别辞苍别 and trained in Madrid and Spain was doing interviews in three different languages,鈥� Silver said. 鈥淎gain, many of you spend time with him, but he鈥檚 an exemplar of the modern NBA.鈥�
The Mavs bristled at criticism Doncic took during the finals, but in some ways, that's welcome-to-the-club stuff. Jordan heard doubters. James still does. The Celtics, until Monday night, did as well. They don't doubt nobodies. Comes with the territory, and Kidd hopes Doncic converts it into fuel for his future.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e on the biggest stage, someone鈥檚 got to poke a hole,鈥� Kidd said. 鈥淭his will only make the great ones better. When you look at 鈥� LeBron, Michael, the greats, the GOATs, they all were poked at, and they came back stronger and better. I truly believe Luka will come back stronger and better.鈥�
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Tim Reynolds is a national basketball writer for The Associated Press. Write to him at treynolds(at)ap.org
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Tim Reynolds, The Associated Press
