Did Luka Doncic and Dirk Nowitzki Play Together? Here’s How Mavs Legend Handed Over Franchise’s Key to Fellow European

Before modern basketball enthusiasts got accustomed to the Luka Doncic era, they lived in the world of another European player who took the Dallas Mavericks to a new level: Dirk Nowitzki. Having devoted over 19 years of his life to the NBA, he secured the first and only championship trophy for the Mavericks in 2011, was named the MVP and the Finals MVP that year, was named to the All-Star Team a whopping 14 times and established several records along the way. Former Mavericks majority owner Mark Cuban credited his team’s rise to this German player by stating, “I had this big, tall guy named Dirk Nowitzki, and I let him be Dirk Nowitzki, right. And I got out of the way”.

Five years after his exit, Luka Doncic has now taken the lead. The Slovenian player has seldom shied away from referring to Nowitzki as his role model. Many NBA players do not always get the opportunity to play alongside those who they look up to the most. Luka Doncic is not among them.

When did Luka Doncic and Dirk Nowitzki play together?

Six years ago, the 5x NBA All-Star, Doncic was drafted into the Dallas Mavericks. Surprisingly, while he was a rookie in 2018-19, it was Nowitzki’s last NBA season. Together, Doncic and Nowitzki have played 42 games in that season.

With the 40-year-old power forward teaming up with the 19-year-old shooting guard, you know that things would get interesting. Now, even though it was his rookie season, Doncic formed a good impression by securing an average score of 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6 assists throughout 72 games. While, Nowitzki could only average 7.3 points, 3.1 rebounds, and 0.7 assists during 51 games. Interestingly, this was the only other season after his rookie year, when the German legend’s average was in the single digits.

Doncic and Nowitzki’s partnership was at its best during a March 2019 clash against the Golden State Warriors. Since it was his last game in Oracle Garden, the veteran player may have wanted to go all out. He did so by dropping his season-high score of 21 points, scoring 10 of those points during the game’s first four minutes. At the same time, Doncic recorded a triple-double through his 23 points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists. Through the use of proper teamwork, accompanied by some sharp shooting, the duo’s efforts had the Warriors struggling to catch up.

Ultimately, the Mavericks won the game through a score of 126-91, ending the franchise’s 12-loss streak.

Years later, Luka Doncic fondly remembers his sole season with the NBA Hall of Famer. During an interview, he went on to state, “I was lucky enough to play with him (Nowitzki) one season. The things he has done for Dallas are unbelievable, not just as a player, but as a person he did a lot.” He would later add his belief that “(Nowitzki) should be a role model for every player in the league.”

Dirk Nowitzki is ‘MAD’ that Luka Doncic is breaking all of his records

When Nowitzki retired, every single Mavs Fan was reeling with just one doubt – who would replace the big gap he was leaving behind? Little did they know, they could rely on Luka to fill the same. Not only does the Slovenian lead the scoring effort for his team, but he has also crossed many records created by the former player.

It was less than a week ago when Doncic brought his total playoff assists to 365, as he broke the ‘360 assists’ record earlier set by Nowitzki. While it took the former star 145 postseason games to achieve this feat, the active player secured it in just a matter of 44 games. And then, a few days before that, he surpassed Nowitzki’s record for the most 40+ point games. Yet again, in December, Doncic established the record for the most 35-point games in Mavericks history.

It’s safe to say, Luka is taking Nowitzki’s tradition forward. Even the legend acknowledges it, rather hilariously.

In an interview with Kevin Hart, he was asked to share his thoughts on Doncic’s growing popularity. All he could do was smile, and jokingly stated, “Man, I’m so mad. He’s breaking every one of my records, man!” This caused Hart to let out a huge laugh. Nowitzki continued saying, “I am thrilled for him, obviously. My last year was his first year in the league, and it was just great to see and get to know him a little bit. We saw in Year 1 that the sky is the limit for him but I honestly didn’t think he could go there.”

Well, Luka Doncic is now very close to touching that sky. The Dallas Mavericks are now in the NBA Finals for the first time since the 2011 season. With the Boston Celtics now standing as the only obstacle between them and the championship ring, Dirk Nowitzki, and the world will be watching on to see what happens next!

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