Luka Doncic was awarded the 2024 ESPY for Best NBA Player ahead of Nikola Jokic, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Jayson Tatum.
Luka Doncic was announced as the winner of the 2024 ESPY for Best NBA Player on ESPN. The Mavericks’ point guard capped off an incredible season where he averaged 33.9 points, 9.2 rebounds, and 9.8 assists while leading the NBA in scoring and orchestrating the Mavericks’ first NBA Finals run in 13 seasons.
“Congratulations to Luka Doncic, the 2024 Player of the Year ESPY award winner… Luka is coming off the best season of his career, leading the NBA in scoring while setting the Mavericks franchise record in points, assists, and triple-doubles. Doncic led the Mavs to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011 and was named to the All-NBA First Team for the fifth straight season.”
Doncic had an incredible season, carrying the load for the Mavericks as they established themselves as one of the best teams in the NBA. He was averaging video game numbers for most of the regular season, papering over the cracks of a newly-formed roster before they found the right chemistry as a group and made the NBA Finals.
Doncic averaged 28.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 8.1 assists in the Playoffs, spending most of the postseason injured but still playing through everything. Ultimately, his contributions enabled the Mavericks to make a run to the Finals where he wasn’t enough to beat the Celtics as all his teammates’ offensive firepower disappeared.
Luka beat out Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic, and Jayson Tatum for the award. Jokic won league MVP but fell to a tough second-round exit against a team that Doncic would gentlemen’s sweep the very next series. Shai was eliminated in six games by Doncic and the Mavs, though SGA arguably was the best player in that series with a hobbled Luka struggling.
Jayson Tatum beat Doncic’s Mavs in five games, but he wasn’t even rated enough to win Finals MVP for that series. Tatum had a phenomenal year, but his inability to be the best player on the Celtics likely would take him out of this conversation in light of what Luka does for the Mavs.
The Mavericks made a marquee addition this summer by adding Klay Thompson to their roster. Doncic has never played with a shooter of Klay’s caliber, and the guard who’s the best at creating 3-point opportunities for his teammates in the NBA will be ecstatic to have Klay as a perimeter option.
“Luka, even before he got in the NBA, you watch his Euroleague highlights and you’re like this 18-year-old is doing this to players in the NBA?.. He texted me saying how excited he was. I relayed the same message back. There’s definitely a mutual respect there… He’s someone who’s not afraid of the moment & competes until the end. I think we’ll be able to bring the best out of each other.”
Klay averaged 17.9 points last season, hoping to improve his production in Dallas. Doncic will also be looking for places to improve his game next season.
It’s hard to improve over averaging 34-10-9, but people will expect Luka to find some more value on the margins of his performance. Even if Doncic’s production falls, it would be a marked improvement if he was a more engaged defensive entity on the court.
Be the first to comment