Watch: Luka Doncic threads the needle
Luka Doncic hasn't played competitive basketball in nearly four months. Wednesday he looked like he'd never stopped.
In Wednesday's Slovenia-Greece game in Doncic's hometown of Ljubljana, Slovenia, Doncic wasn't showing much rust as he delivered a half-court bounce pass to a streaking teammate.
Today was the second of Slovenia's prep games for the upcoming FIBA World Cup, and the first one that Doncic participated in. Often these games are called "friendlies," but there was nothing friendly about the move Doncic made in the first quarter.
Not content to merely send his outmatched defender flying backward, Doncic stopped to stare him down, then baited a different Greek player into a foul and an and-one for Doncic.
Doncic also hit a three after thoroughly confounding a defender in the second half.
Last year was the first season since 2019 that the Dallas Mavericks missed the playoffs. With Slovenia playing deep into September in last year's EuroBasket tournament, the last four months were Doncic's most extended period of basketball inaction since the pandemic, which was followed by a quick turnaround into the next season.
It appears that Doncic is quite refreshed and still quite skillful. While this Greek team is missing Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is recovering from knee surgery, they're quite a strong team. And yet Doncic is treating them like the Washington Generals.
It's good news for Mavericks fans and anyone who was worried Doncic's skills, or his swagger, had gotten rusty.
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