I am a Sixers fan, but when it comes to playoff basketball in the NBA, the drama and excitement is often so great that I end up rooting for certain players or teams if the Sixers are eliminated.
Over the years I have for the most part been a decently big fan of the Warriors dynasty. Maybe dynasty is a strong word to some, but they are pretty dang close to one if they aren't. I loved the Cavs-Warriors rivalry from the mid-late 2010's! Seemed like every year it was Cavs-Warriors for awhile. Those NBA Finals series were filled with epic battles. Classics!
It's really been just a couple of years since the Warriors have been in the Finals, many people act like it's been ages. Klay Thompson and others have dealt with numerous injuries, players have come and gone, and even though it has only been a couple years, players have been getting ever so slightly older. Despite all this, the main core trio of the Warriors in Klay, Steph, and Draymond are finally back together again and they impressively find themselves back at the doorstep to ANOTHER NBA Finals appearance! Pretty cool! Just shows how great they really are.
But before the Warriors clinch their sixth Finals appearance in eight seasons, they are going to have to get past a very intriguing Dallas Mavericks team led by a young superstar in Luka Doncic!
Luka has been a pretty enigmatic yet exciting superstar in the NBA for four years now, and he's currently riding the biggest wave of momentum and hype he has ever ridden on. This is because Doncic and the Mavs just defeated an NBA Finals favorite Phoenix Suns team in seven games.
The series was seven games so ultimately it was a very close series, but game seven was not so close. The Mavs obliterated and embarrassed a supposedly superior Suns team led by superstars Devin Booker, Chris Paul, and Deandre Ayton IN PHOENIX!
I've always been pretty aware of how dominant Luka is and can be, but he's always been sort of mysterious. His appearance and slick play style can be pretty deceiving. Luka is a white dude from Europe with a bit of a baby face that's often times stuck in a grin. Not your typical look of an NBA superstar frankly. Also, while I believe Luka's athletic ability is underrated, it is fair to say Luka is not the same caliber of raw athlete as LeBron for example.
Despite his appearance and non-traditional play style, Luka does his own thing at a freakishly elite level. He can create his own shot and sorta play like James Harden/Carmelo Anthony and he can do his best impression of LeBron or Chris Paul and distribute passes with great anticipation, awareness and precision. It's crazy. He has really good size and play strength that allows him to be a mismatch against almost anyone one on one.
Luka grew up playing against kids that were older than him in Europe and eventually became so advanced that he became a pro at the age of sixteen! From that point on for the next four years or so Luka would begin to dominate and become one of the greatest European basketball players ever before he even reached his twenties. So Luka does not have just skill, he has years of pro experience against grown men in his memory bank before he ever took a step on an NBA court.
With all this being said, now it's time for Luka and the Mavs' biggest boss challenge yet, the Golden State Warriors.
Did Luka and this Mavs team level up with this dominant game seven victory over the Suns?
Or are the Warriors destined to begin part two of their dynasty?
As a fan, either result is going to be impressive to me. I am really just hoping for an epic series because man, I think that this series will really age well historically speaking.
This has all the ingredients to be perhaps an all time great conference finals matchup.
The young, up and coming superstar vs the older but still relevant championship caliber vets. I'm hyped for it!
Comment series predictions!
