Stan Van Gundy, the coach who led the Miami Heat, Orlando Magic, Detroit Pistons and New Orleans Pelicans in the NBA, has stated that be believes Luka Doncic is the best offensive player in history.
Doncic is currently the best scorer this season in the NBA, surpassing Giannis Antetokounmpo (30.4 points per game) and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (30.4) with an average of 33.9 points for the Dallas Mavericks.
The Slovenian is also the sixteenth best rebounder (9.2) and the third best passer (9.8) in the league. Doncic’s shooting percentage from the field is also impressive as he has made 804 of 1,652 shots, just below 50%.
So, Doncic is the best shooter of the season in the NBA, but Van Gundy took that even further as he declared: “As a strictly offensive player, I think Luka is the best I’ve ever seen.”
More praise has also came flooding in, notably from Dirk Nowitzki, who got a lot of viral attention for his joke at the expense of Mark Cuban, the former principal Mavericks owner as he praised Doncic’s passing, rebounding and passing skills:
“Mark Cuban doesn’t know anything about basketball, so he doesn’t know what he’s watching, so…. I’m kidding, I’m kidding,” Nowitzki said to media. “Luka Doncic is doing things that I’ve never been able to do.
“Honestly, I was a scorer and the rest was like I rebounded a little bit. I helped a little bit on defense. I was a horrible passer.”
Luka Doncic’s NBA scoring numbers: Does he surpass Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan or LeBron James?
Doncic, who is 25 years old and came to the NBA from Real Madrid as the third pick in the 2018 Draft, has career averages of 28.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists.
The top five all-time NBA scorers are:
LeBron James 40,409 career points and an average of 27.1 per game.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar: 38,387 and 24.6.
Karl Malone: 36,928 and 25.
Kobe Bryant: 48,643 and 25.
Michael Jordan: 41,010 and 30.1 points per game.
