According to Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas Mavericks rookie Luka Doncic is a better player than the future Hall of Famer was at 19 years old.
Nowitzki says Doncic’s court vision and passing at such a young age is something he’s never seen during his 20-year NBA career.
.@swish41 On @luka7doncic: He's Incredible; Better Than Me At 19: https://t.co/TPA7mEUIU0 pic.twitter.com/GvXqaEuzJM
— 105.3 The FAN (@1053thefan) September 11, 2018
Dirk adds, however, that he doesn’t want to put undue pressure on the rook.
Per 105.3 The Fan:
“Yeah, he’s been here now for a week,” Nowitzki said. “He’s scrimmaged every day and works hard. I’m really liking what I’m seeing. He’s incredible with the ball for a big guy. He’s unbelievable in pick and roll play. His court vision is already unbelievable. I couldn’t believe what I saw from a 19/20-year-old. He’s a good shooter when he has time and I think he’s going to be great for us for a long long time.
“Obviously, I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, either. But coming over from a different country, I went through the same thing 20 years ago. It’s tough. You have to adjust to a lot of things. For me, that took a whole year. That year was really really tough.
“He’s an incredible talent. His court vision and passing for his size at his age is something I’ve never seen in my 20 years.”
Is he better than you when you were 19?
“Oh yeah. I could shoot a little bit but I never had the court vision … the savviness that he brings to the game. Just the way he already reads the pick and roll … all the stuff like Chris Paul and these guys do … He’s going to be fun to watch especially with bigs like DeAndre (Jordan) and Dwight (Powell) rolling to the rim … He’s going to pick defenses apart and it’s going to be fun to watch.”
