Nowitzki: Dončić is better than I was at 19

“I’ve never seen a teenager with such court vision and passing”

12. september 2018 ob 19.43 • Dallas - MMC RTV SLO

Dirk Nowitzki believes Luka Dončić is his real successor at Dallas, around whom a new team will be built. Foto: Reuters

Dirk Nowitzki added fuel to Dončićmania fire when he said that he had never seen a basketball player who, at his age and height, would have such court vision and passing as Luka Dončić has. He even declared him to be a better basketball player than he was when he first arrived in the NBA.

The Dallas Mavericks icon and the best European basketball player in the NBA League did not spare with praise, superlative and comparisons when he was a guest at the local radio station called 105TheFan Radio. Last week, Nowitzki spent the first week of group training, after which he believes that the Slovenian basketball gem really is his worthy successor.

Mentor to the Slovenian rookie
“I’m really liking what I’m seeing. He’s incredible with the ball for a big guy. He’s unbelievable in pick and roll play. His court vision is already unbelievable. I couldn’t believe what I saw from a 19/20-year-old,” said the excited 40-year-old German, who will insist on playing for the Mavericks, mainly due to the mentoring of Luka Dončić.

“Obviously, I don’t want to put too much pressure on him, either. But coming over from a different country, I went through the same thing 20 years ago. It’s tough. You have to adjust to a lot of things. For me, that took a whole year. That year was really really tough. We’re going to do everything we can to help this kid develop, have fun, and learn, so we can see the best Luka here hopefully in a year to a couple more years,” said Nowitzki to explain his role.

I never had such court vision
“He’s an incredible talent. His court vision and passing for his size at his age is something I’ve never seen in my 20 years,” the champion and the most valuable player of 2011 complimented the Slovenian rookie.

“Is he better than you were at his age?” asked the radio host. “Oh yeah. I could shoot a little bit but I never had the court vision. The savviness that he brings to the game. Just the way he already reads the pick and roll. All the stuff like Chris Paul and these guys do,” said Nowitzki to justify why Dončić is better than he was 20 years ago when he was a rookie in the NBA League.

“He’s going to be fun to watch especially with bigs like DeAndre Jordan and Dwight Powell rolling to the rim. He’s going to pick defenses apart and it’s going to be fun to watch.” A 13-time all-star player and a synonym for Dallas Maverick predicts Dončić will play in great and attractive games.