Cristiano Ronaldo taught many that great achievements should have a pretentious appearance, perfect shape and shine with diamonds. But on the other side of the ocean there is a person who can instill self-confidence in everyone.

A little clumsy, a little sluggish, self-deprecating and simple – Luka Doncic stood on a par with the world’s greatest basketball players last season. And in the Christmas week, the Slovenian basketball player conquered a new peak, becoming the only player with a unique triple-double combination.

After a magical evening, in his style, he simply dreamed of beer. You can’t help but like this guy!

Special player

Luka Doncic was born to break records. He got into the roster of the grand European basketball of the Spanish Real Madrid at the age of 16. He made his debut in the championship as the third youngest player in the history of the tournament: only Ricky Rubio and Angel Rebolo were younger.

A year and a half later, Luka became the European champion together with the Slovenian team. At 18 years old. Yes, even with such a game, which allowed the organizers to include him in the symbolic team of the tournament.

Photo: © Anadolu Agency / Contributor / Anadolu Agency / Gettyimages.com

Naturally, he was guaranteed a career in the NBA. In the fall of 2018, he made his debut for Dallas, and already 12 days after the first game, he scored more than 30 points in the confrontation with San Antonio. A very solid result.

It is symbolic that the arrival of the Slovenian to the team coincided with the end of the career of the Dallas legend Dirk Nowitzki. The German basketball player is, without a doubt, an epochal figure for Texas and for the entire league. Both Europeans managed to play each other in the 2018/19 season, which, although it ended with another miss from the playoffs, was important for Luka. The young all-rounder was named NBA Rookie of the Year. Before him, only the great Pau Gasol was awarded such an honor from Europe.

So Nowitzki, who had a solid final season and received an All-Star invitation at 40, made sure the club was in good hands and left his post.

Along with Michael Jordan

The very next season, after the end of Dirk Luke’s career, Dallas climbed into the playoffs, where the Mavericks were not for three seasons in a row. In his first relegation match, he scored a record 42 points – no one has ever managed to make his debut in the playoff games of the elite overseas league.

True, it was not possible to go beyond the first round either in this or in the next season. Both times they were stopped by Cleveland. Nevertheless, Doncic’s influence on the team’s game has reached incredible proportions. In the 2021/22 season, he was on a par with Michael Jordan as a player, scoring over 800 points in his first 25 playoff games. Only three basketball players in the history of the NBA have achieved such an achievement: in addition to Michael and Luke, Wilt Chamberlain, who shone in the 60s, did this.

Photo: © Jason Miller / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru

If not for the crazy Golden State with Steph Curry, then the Mavericks would be champions last season and for the second time in history.

Mythic achievement

As you understand, the Slovenian did not stop at these achievements at the age of 23. He started the new season fervently, although his team is still in the middle of the Western Conference rankings. Against the New York Knicks, Doncic recorded his seventh triple-double of the season, but the Mavericks kept falling short.

Half a minute before the end of the game, the gap was 9 points. At first, the team managed to close the gap to 3 points, but there were 4.2 seconds left before the siren, and Doncic met them on the free throw line.

For one hit in this case, they give only 1 point. The Slovenian performed exactly the first throw, but even hitting the second time, he would only reduce the gap to a minimum. Given that possession of the ball passes to the opponent, a pointless undertaking.

So Doncic acted according to the classical scheme in this situation – he missed. And then a crazy series of ricochets in the air, a reckless interception from Luka and a jump shot. Exactly. A draw and overtime, in which the hosts put the squeeze on the guests — 126:121.

It is unlikely that this comeback would have become so legendary if it were not for Doncic’s landmark achievements: he scored 60 points, made 21 rebounds and gave 10 assists. Simply put, this is a triple-double, but the first in NBA history with such indicators: 60 points to 21 rebounds.

Luka also became the first Dallas player in scoring in the history of the team. Analysts considered this to be the first time in league history that a team lost by 9 or more points with 35 seconds left in the match but managed to bail out. Previously, in 13,884 attempts, no one succeeded in such a comeback.

The legendary game was followed by the legendary comment of the protagonist after the match right on the floor:

“I’m damn tired. To recover, I just need a beer.