Jason Kidd says Mavericks’ Luka Doncic is already better than Dirk Nowitzki

Luka Doncic has surpassed many incredible statistical feats, but has he become the best player in Dallas Mavericks history?

His coach thinks so too.

“He’s better than Dirk. He’s in the atmosphere of Jordan, the best player ever, LeBron, Kobe,” Mavericks head coach Jason Kidd told “97.1 The Freak” The Downbeat , said Danny Balis, Mike Sirois and Kevin “KT” Turner in an interview. “Just appreciating what this 24-year-old is doing is something Dallas has never seen. He’s better than Dirk. He does things that Dirk could never do. Now get the right people around him and ultimately A chance to win a championship.”

Dirk Nowitzki spent all 21 seasons of his NBA career in Dallas, leading the Mavericks to two NBA Finals and a championship in 2011, where Kidd was A member of a team. He is also the only player in team history to win the MVP award. There’s even a statue of him outside the American Airlines Center.

Doncic, in his sixth NBA season, led the Mavericks to the 2022 Western Conference Finals but has never reached the NBA Finals. However, he has surpassed Nowitzki in some statistical measures.

Doncic already has the most triple-doubles (65) and 40-point games (38) in franchise history. He also has two of the highest-scoring games in Dallas history, with his historic 73 points last week and 60 points against the New York Knicks more than a year ago. Nowitzki’s career-high score is 53 points, tying Doncic as the third-highest scoring player in team history.

However, the Mavericks haven’t had much playoff success under Doncic. His playoff scoring average was 32.5 points, second only to Michael Jordan’s 33.4 points, but he only advanced to the first round once.

Doncic and the Mavericks missed the playoffs last season, but Kidd still ranks him higher than Nowitzki and on the same level as Jordan.

“MJ didn’t get to the (NBA Finals) until he was in his 30s. This young guy is 24 years old and is breaking all the records in front of him and he’s a winner,” Kidd said. “His ultimate goal is to win a championship and he’s going to achieve that, not just win one championship. “When it’s all said and done, he’s going to win multiple wins. “

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