Long before Luka Doncic became the face of the Los Angeles Lakers, former Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle knew he was coaching a special player.
Carlisle reflected on Doncic’s first days in Dallas and admitted the young Slovenian immediately reminded him of one of the greatest point guards in NBA history.
“You know when Luka came, he came in the fall and the first day of pickup games, he’s playing and we have a pretty good veteran team,” Carlisle said speaking on The Draymond Green Show. “We had DeAndre Jordan, we had Wes Matthews, we had Harrison Barnes who won a championship with you, and some other really good players. And Luka’s playing with these guys, and he is playing like Magic Johnson. He is rebounding and he is throwing dimes like all over the place. He wasn’t even really looking to score. And I’m like, ‘guys this guy is like a Magic Johnson-type player.’
“And then we get into the season and I wasn’t really sure what position he was gonna be. I thought he was probably gonna be a 3-man because he was almost 6’8. But he kept saying he’s a point guard and after eight or 10 games we put him at point and put Dennis Smith off the ball and the rest is pretty much history.”
That decision proved to be a franchise-changing one as Doncic quickly established himself as one of the NBA’s brightest young stars.
Carlisle believes what separates the Lakers superstar isn’t just his talent, but his competitiveness and basketball IQ.
“He had a historic first three years,” Carlisle said. “And I said this during the year, from a talent standpoint, ability and everything else, he’s the most unique player I’ve ever worked with. He’s just so so good and he’s a killer. He’s a killer competitor too. You put the right guys around him and I defy you to figure out a way to beat him because he is smart as hell and he knows every trick in the book and he knows how to win.”