Keep in mind that this article was written on July 15th, not August 5th.
Let’s face the facts, Doncic is all over the court every single game. Even Paul Pierce (aka “The Truth”) thinks so, saying “He is the most talented player in the NBA.” He’s basically a coach’s dream player. Same thing goes with Magic Johnson. Throughout the 80’s, Magic was an innovator on the court and brought in a new-era of fast-paced basketball. To break this comparison down, there are two parts to this; “The Eye Test” and “The Stats”. “The Eye Test” is where I break them down based on their skillset from highlight tapes. “The Stats” is where I break them down based on their stats (obviously!) Let’s jump right into the debate!
The Eye Test: Now, I know you saw the title and were like, “A Magic Johnson comparison is some high praise for a guy that just got in the league two years ago.” However, his abilities as a player are what separates the good ones from the great ones. In one game against the Warriors, he took a page out of Magic’s book. He was on a 3-on-1 fast break and instead of going up with it, he made a crafty no-look pass to Dorian-Finney Smith, who slammed it home. When Magic was on that type of fast break, he would do the exact same thing that Doncic did that night. Additionally, they both are really tall for the point guard position (Magic is 6’9 and Luka is 6’7), they’re crafty around the rim, their playmaking ability is top notch, and they can make some crazy acrobatic shots. However, there is one difference in their play. Doncic can shoot a little more than Magic because they played in two very different eras of basketball. Now, let’s turn it over (no pun intended) to the stats to see what type of story they will tell.
The Stats: Pre-pandemic, Doncic was going off. In just 54 games, he was averaging 28.7 points per game (which was 6th in the league), 9.3 rebounds per game and 8.7 assists per game (which was 4th in the league). He’s nearly averaging a 30 point triple-double. In case you don’t know what a triple double is, it means when someone puts up a stat line of 10+ points, 10+ assists and 10+ rebounds. There have only been two people in NBA history to average a triple-double in one season, Russell Westbrook and Oscar Robertson. Now that the season is coming back on July 30, Luka has a chance to be a part of that illustrious group. As I mentioned earlier, Doncic is a better shooter and the stats think so too. This season, Luka has a balanced statline of 46.1 FG% (field goal percentage), 31.8 3P% (three-point percentage) and 75.2% from the free-throw line (free-throw percentage). On the other hand, in Magic’s second year in the league, he was 53.2% from the field, 17.6% from beyond the arc, and 76% from the free-throw line.
In my mind, there are only a handful of athletes in sports who are just as talented at what they do. For example, Magic, Shohei Ohtani, Mike Trout, Lamar Jackson and Patrick Mahomes are just some of the names that come to my mind as generational talents. Luka Doncic could be one of those greats over the course of his career. Heck, we may not even see another talent like Doncic ever again. So, to quote Rockies play-by-play announcer Drew Goodman, take a good look NBA fans, because you won’t see him for long.
Sources: youtube.com, basketball-reference.com, nba.com/stats, reddit.com