When Luka Doncic came into the NBA with the Dallas Mavericks, he was taken under the wing by the legendary Dirk Nowitzki, who was in the final year of his Hall of Fame career. The two remain close to this day with Nowitzki even making sure he was in the building for Doncic’s debut game with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Doncic is now ready to enter his second full season with the Lakers and it is a completely new era now with LeBron James gone. But Doncic has been putting in a ton of work to get ready and Nowitzki is impressed with how he is looking and believes he is in line for another incredible year.
“Oh, he looked clean, I gotta say,” Nowitzki said in an interview with Sam Gannon of KDFW Fox 4 in Dallas. “He looked clean, he looked tan, he looked slim. He looked ready to go. Obviously the Lakers also went through some changes with some new teammates and LeBron leaving, it’s gonna be interesting to see.
“They brought in Kessler, obviously a big center that they were looking for. I think they also made some nice moves that is going to make them better. And Luka looked incredible there. I saw him there in March when he had 1,000-2,000 points in the month, it was incredible the run he was on. It’s just unfortunately he got hurt right towards the playoffs. But if he’s healthy and he’s ready to go he’s gonna have a great season for sure.”
Obviously Nowitzki is exaggerating with the points just a bit, but Doncic did famously become just the 10th player in NBA history to score 600 points in a month during that unreal run in the month of March. But Doncic is healthy now and is embracing his role as the leader of this new Lakers team, recently hosting the entire roster for a minicamp in Slovenia.
All eyes will be on Doncic as he looks to lead the Lakers with James gone and the pressure and expectations that come with being the face of this franchise. But Doncic is ready for all those challenges and Nowitzki will clearly be keeping a close eye throughout his journey.
Channing Frye believes Luka Doncic must change style of play to win championship
There are very few players in the history of the league who are capable of what Doncic is with the ball in their hands which is why the Lakers star has consistently had one of the highest usage rates in the NBA. But former player Channing Frye believes Doncic must adjust his style a little bit if he wants to win an NBA Championship.
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