“Dirk will tell you that Luka is better than he is at the age of 23”- Jason Kidd compares two great Mavericks teammates, believes Doncic’s game is ‘unbelievable’ but former NBA champion had greater work ethic
Jason Kidd has spent plenty of time on the basketball court with some of the top players in the game. That includes the Dallas Mavericks superstar pair of Luka Doncic and Dirk Nowitzki.
During his time as a player, Jason Kidd was one of the top point guards in the entire NBA. He went on to spend years of his career as a member of the Mavericks, where he played alongside Dirk Nowitzki. The two would go on to win the 2011 championship. Kidd now has the opportunity to coach Luka Doncic as the man in charge of the Dallas Mavericks.
Jason Kidd recently appeared on an episode of the "All the Smoke" podcast with former NBA veterans Stephen Jackson and Matt Barnes. Throughout the episode, Kidd went on to compare both Dirk Nowitzki and Luka Doncic. Kidd praised them both but said that he believes Dirk would admit that Doncic is better than he was at the age of 23.
"Dirk was a warrior man and he also funny. He would rap in German, don't know what he was saying, but he would say that he was rapping, but he had a great personality off the court.
"I think everyone got to see him on the court and just, you know, the fade away, the one dribble, hard dribble, right bank, but he worked on all that. He was a worker. He worked extremely hard on all the stuff that you saw in the game.
"And so when you compare the two, Dirk will tell you that Luka is better than he is at the age of 23. You know, Dirk's very honest. He was like, 'I don't know if I was gonna make it in the league when I was young, but when you look at what Luka is doing at 23 is unbelievable.'"
Jason Kidd talks about Luka Doncic and Dirk Nowitzki
It hasn't taken long during his young career, but Luka Doncic has already become one of the top superstars in the NBA. It's always fascinating to compare both Doncic and Nowitzki, as both players started their basketball careers overseas before heading to the NBA.
Nowitzki is one of the all-time great forwards and will always be a legend when it comes to the Mavericks organization. But Kidd has a point when it comes to his praise of Doncic. The superstar wing has become a dominant force and is still just 23-years-old. The only thing stopping Doncic from creating a legacy as one of the all-time greatest players is winning a championship.
Most games with 30 PTS and 10 AST before turning 25:
51 — Trae Young
35 — Luka Doncic
They’re still only 23 years old. https://t.co/glq9unxDEM
That's something that Nowitzki wasn't able to do until the age of 32. Time will tell if Doncic can finally put together a number of championships and build his resume as one of the greatest.