Dallas Mavericks All-Star guard Luka Doncic has established himself as a walking triple-double in just his third season in the league. In his sophomore year, he shattered Magic Johnson's record for most triple-doubles by a player before the age of 21 by racking up 21 of them. Doncic has also already passed legends like Kobe Bryant, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Elgin Baylor on the all-time list for triple-doubles. During Sunday afternoon's matchup against the Chicago Bulls, Doncic passed another one: Michael Jordan.
With a double behind-the-back pass to Willie Cauley-Stein in the middle of the third quarter against the Bulls, Doncic leapfrogged Jordan to move up to 15th on the all-time triple-double list after recording the 29th of his career, which ties him now with Grant Hill.
While the record itself is an accomplishment, especially as it came against Jordan's former team while wearing Jordan's shoes as a Jordan brand athlete, the pass that got him to that mark was just absolutely insane.
luka, yo what?! pic.twitter.com/8td1yIV6z7
— Jasmyn Wimbish (@JasmynWimbish) January 17, 2021
Going behind the back to keep the ball away from a smothering Bulls defense in the paint was already a nice touch, but then to go with the behind-the-back pass immediately following that is just ridiculous and something very on brand for Doncic, who has more than earned the nickname "Luka Magic."
Doncic was considered a likely MVP candidate going into the new season, and while he struggled early in the Mavs schedule, he's averaging 30.6 points, 11.6 rebounds and 11.2 assists over the past five games to carry a Dallas team that has recently been struck by a COVID-19 outbreak. He's not only getting it done on offense; his defense has seen a significant improvement from the previous two seasons, as he's had a game where he came away with five steals, and another one with four blocks.
The third-year guard is starting to get back into his groove, and he's playing at an MVP level right now. Once Dallas gets its full team back and Kristaps Porzingis knocks off the rust, this Mavericks team could be pretty scary when the postseason rolls around.
