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J.J. Redick spent, regrettably, very little time with the Mavericks, arriving in Dallas after a March 25 trade last spring at the NBA deadline and suiting up for only 13 games with the team. He suffered a heel injury in May and did not play again, then retired this year to focus on his media career.
Redick was a Maverick for less than three months. But in that span, he picked up on something about the face of the franchise, 22-year-old star Luka Doncic. And what he learned was that Doncic, the third pick of the 2018 draft, does not carry himself like a star.
That, in Redick’s experience, is not common in the NBA.
“I will say that the norm is that the star players are the talent and they generally are more high maintenance,” Redick said on his podcast, The Old Man and the Three, with Alex Caruso this week. “I spoke about this a ton while I was with Dallas. Luka was an anomaly to me. He was just one of the guys, very low-key. He doesn’t understand how good he (is).”
Doncic Has Been Compared to Picasso
There have been plenty of reminders, of course, of just how good Doncic is. He certainly showed us this weekend against Boston when he knocked down a fall-away 3-pointer with a defender on him as time expired to give Dallas a 107-104 win over the Celtics in a wild game.
He also passed Dirk Nowtizki, who played 21 seasons in Big D, on the Mavericks’ all -time list of games with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists. Doncic has had 131 in the 209 games he has played in the NBA.
And Jason Kidd, remember, had a pretty good comparison for Doncic back on Mavericks media day, though Kidd had to look to the art world to find the right match.
“I look at Luka as a young Picasso, someone who is very talented, loves to win, and understands how to play the game at a very high level,” Kidd said. “I don’t know if anybody told Picasso that he had to use all the paints, but I just want to remind Luka that he can rely on his teammates.”
Mavericks Facing Tough Schedule Ahead
After Dallas’ difficult loss to the Bulls on Wednesday night, Doncic and company face an important stretch of games after Friday’s showing against the Spurs in San Antonio. Beginning on Monday against the Nuggets, the Mavericks will play seven straight opponents who are currently over .500.
That includes the strange four-game road trip the Mavs have starting next week in which they only make two stops, for two games against the Suns in Phoenix followed by two games against the Clippers in L.A.
The Mavs get the Wizards and Cavaliers, two surprising East teams, at home when they return.
That is important because Dallas has yet to get a win over a team that is now above .500. The closest they’ve come is a W over the Raptors, who are 6-6, back on October 23, which was Dallas’ second game of the season.
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