Luka Shows an Old Dog a New Trick...

I have been a basketball player, coach and fan for over 50 years now. I've covered the sport at court side, I've sat in the nosebleed seats and I've watched games with my wife since before we were married 42 years ago. I've sat in the Garden when the Knicks were the embodiment of team in the late 60's; I've bounced when Reunion rocked a couple of decades ago.

I've never seen a player do what Luka did last night. Never.

You probably saw it, if you have watched the highlights of the game. About 1:10 left in overtime, Mavs up on Milwaukee by 2, 130-128. The team has been miserable in close games, the usual price of youth and having not been there before, but last time out they salvaged a close win, helping the mood.

Milwaukee, one of the NBA's best defensive teams, has seen enough of Luka for one night. 36 points, 14 boards, 18 dimes... a 25th triple double with points for emphasis. They give up balance and send two at Doncic, knowing that he's the most likely one on the floor to determine a win or loss tonight.

Luka works the perimeter, taking a short toss from Kleber at the top of the key. Maxi sets a brush pick for Luka, and shoots for the basket. Doncic flows to the elbow -- no rush, in full control -- as the double team forms around him, then in stride bounces a pass sideways between his legs, hitting the cutting forward in his hands and leading to a key basket. It is Luka's 19th assist, and as he backpedals to defend, his expression reminds me of someone who just got tossed a beer.

Four point lead. Thumbs up.

To most of you, that was a fun moment in a regular season game. To me, who's worked films for years, it's a revelation, a statement of the kid's ability that makes me openly wonder what's to come, what will he show me that I've never seen before... again.

I've broken down that pass a dozen times since last night. First of all, I cannot get past him thinking of making that pass at that angle to split a double on a video game, let alone with time ticking down in overtime. The mental agility required to see that evolve astounds me. There haven't been more that a couple of dozen players that I've studied who could have even imagined trying that pass, let alone made it.

Then there's the actual execution. Smooth, in rhythm, no pause or push... just getting the ball where it needs to be, when it needs to be there. That his legs crossed open just in time was part of his internal body clock. Kleber dunks without being contested.

It is said that true genius is making the impossible look natural, almost as it was always intended to be that way. You probably saw the pass, and were excited that the team was finally looking solid late... a nice pass, but a better basket.

Nope.

Take it from an old hand at this; you saw something astounding, something that given the situation, the play and the team's needs in the season, was simply unbelievable. In the context of an important game, against a top opponent, Luka showed everything he has... and nobody swooned, no one suggested that it was a career game. It was just Luka being Luka.

Doncic has the capacity to spoil Mav fans forever, the way that Dirk spoiled us when he backed onto one foot and floated a three, but even more spectacularly, more completely. We are close to calling any game that he doesn't ring up a triple as a bad game, something less than we expect.

But in that bounce pass late in overtime, Luka showed me something that I could not take for granted. After fifty years of watching the game, he showed me something... new.

Amazing.