NBA analyst bluntly points out similarity between Luka Doncic and Lionel Messi: "He didn't grow up dreaming of being Michael Jordan"
Luka Doncic was an MVP candidate this season and is already a five-time All-NBA first-team player. However, no one has compared him to Michael Jordan as many have done with Anthony Edwards. One NBA analyst has a theory as to why. Brian Windhorst had an interesting take on Doncic’s style.
He was asked on ESPN’s “Get Up” to compare Luka Doncic to a previous basketball star. Greenberg said Doncic “does it differently,” and he could not think of any previous NBA great to compare Doncic to. Windhorst had an out-of-the-box response:
“I’ll tell you who he reminds me of, he reminds me of Leo Messi. You may say what the heck are you talking about, how crazy are you?” Windhorst said.
“But he grew up idolizing Messi, he grew up idolizing soccer players. “He didn’t grow up dreaming of being Michael Jordan. He grew up dreaming of being Leo Messi and that is how he approaches basketball games.”
Windhorst continued with the analogy. He said Doncic even plays with a similar style to Messi. Both stars approach the game and move in the game in similar ways.
“The way Messi plays, he kind of walks around and lumbers around. He is not always super active but when the ball comes to him, he turns brilliant in the blink of an eye. That is what Luka does,” Windhorst said.
Messi is known for choosing his attacking moments precisely, especially later in his career. Doncic has also been known for doing the same on the NBA floor. Doncic sometimes jogs back on defense or walks the ball up slowly before dissecting the defense.
Doncic is dealing with a knee sprain throughout the playoffs. However, he has shown an extra effort on the defensive end throughout the playoffs.
Doncic has some similar achievements to Messi. Doncic led Real Madrid to the Euroleague title in 2018. Messi led Madrid’s biggest rivals, FC Barcelona, to four European titles with four Champions League victories. Both were massive stars in Spain, despite being from elsewhere.
Luka Doncic closes out Timberwolves in Western Conference Finals
Luka Doncic came out with a message to send in Game 5. He came out firing on all cylinders.
Doncic dropped 20 points in the first quarter alone to open up a huge lead that Dallas would never relinquish. Doncic was dropping 3-pointers from the logo and talking to the road crowd along the way.
Luka Doncic finished with 36 points to lead the Mavericks to the NBA Finals for the first time since 2011. Kyrie Irving also added 36 points of his own as the star backcourt carried the team to a 124-103 win.
Luka Doncic was 6-of-10 from downtown. He shot 14-of-22 from the field and played 37 minutes as the Mavs went on cruise control in the fourth quarter with a large lead.
They now face the Eastern Conference winners, the Boston Celtics, in the NBA Finals.