With Luka Doncic making his first-ever NBA Finals appearance in his 6-year-long career so far, statistics indicate that he has been playing at a level that could keep up with NBA legend Wilt Chamberlain. To the few fans who might not be aware, Luka is the franchise cornerstone for the Dallas Mavericks and has been the face of the team over the past few years.
After adding Kyrie Irving and a few others to their roster, the Mavs established themselves as legitimate title contenders and managed to qualify for the NBA Finals by defeating the Los Angeles Clippers, Oklahoma City Thunder, and Minnesota Timberwolves.
While there is no denying that Kyrie Irving has taken some of the offensive scoring load away from Luka Doncic, this is still one of the best postseasons of Doncic’s short career and has even earned comparisons to the legendary Wilt Chamberlain. With that being said, let us take a closer look and find out more.Luka Doncic is almost on the same level as Wilt Chamberlain in this year’s playoffs
Wilt Chamberlain dominated the league during the 1960s and 70s. It has been almost half a century since Wilt stepped on the court and displayed his basketball skills. It is safe to say that there are very few fans alive today who saw a prime Wilt in action. Moreover, Chamberlain played in a very different era of basketball with a play style that is worlds apart from the modern NBA.
The very fact that Wilt Chamberlain averaged more than 22 rebounds per game throughout his career speaks to the era in which he played. This is a statistic that no other NBA player is ever expected to come close to matching. However, recent reports reveal that Luka Doncic is almost on Wilt’s level when combining points, rebounds, and assists in a single postseason.
Most playoff PPG + RPG + APG:
51.2 — Wilt Chamberlain
48.8 — Luka DoncicElite company. pic.twitter.com/X5GAcIoaVc
— StatMuse (@statmuse) May 31, 2024
This speaks to Doncic’s all-around abilities and skills when put in a pressure filled situation such as the Western Conference playoffs. While this report certainly indicates that Luka Doncic is performing on another level, some fans are not giving him his due credit and pointing out differences between Luka and Wilt.
Fans discredit Luka Doncic by claiming that he stat pads frequently
Upon hearing that Luka nearly matches Wilt in terms of cumulative stats in a single postseason, many fans were quick to point out that Doncic is well-known for stat padding while Wilt never engaged in that form of behavior. To those who do not know, stat-padding refers to accumulating assists or rebounds for the sake of an impressive statline even when a game is out of reach.
Ahh yes. The classic 20 point first quarter stat padding.
— G7 Sports (@G7SportsTalk) June 1, 2024
Luka plays in garbage time to statpad.
— Irteza Yafi (@IrtezaY) May 31, 2024
Since Luka and his team have made the NBA Finals this season, it would be unfair to claim that he has been stat padding considering that his team has fully benefited from his numerous impressive performances. In any case, winning the NBA championship while putting up impressive numbers should silence fans that are not giving Doncic credit for his postseason performances.