Luka Doncic had more than his fair share of doubters prior to the 2018 NBA Draft and Charles Barkley was one of the non-believers. Barkley's comments regarding Doncic on the Planet Pollard Podcast in June 2018 resurfaced recently, and to say he wasn't sold on him would be an understatement.
"I don't trust foreign leagues, I have nothing against foreign players, but when someone is 18 years old and already an MVP (of the EuroLeague) - I think that competition is crap. No one can dominate at 18 years old. I would never draft him high."
Doncic became the youngest player to win EuroLeague MVP as a 19-year-old in 2018, but Barkley didn't think he was good enough to be selected with the first or second pick. He just didn't rate the competition that the Slovenian went up against. Now, that was a pretty terrible take in hindsight but to be fair to the 11-time All-Star, the Phoenix Suns and Sacramento Kings agreed with him.
The Suns had the first pick of the draft and selected Deandre Ayton while the Kings selected Marvin Bagley III with the second pick. Doncic went third to the Atlanta Hawks, who traded him away to the Dallas Mavericks on draft night for Trae Young and a first-round pick. I think by now, it's fair to say that the Suns, Kings, and Hawks blundered big time.
Ayton has turned out to be a solid but unspectacular big man while Bagley is a bust. Young, meanwhile, has become a star, but he is nowhere near as good as Doncic, who is now a five-time All-Star and has made the All-NBA First Team five times.
Doncic has also put up incredible career averages of 28.7 points, 8.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists, 1.2 steals, and 0.5 blocks per game as of now. The 25-year-old won his first scoring title last season by averaging 33.9 points per game and led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals as well. He looks set to go down as one of the greatest players in league history.
Charles Barkley Also Didn't Think The Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving Pairing Would Work
This pre-draft take was far from the only wrong one delivered by Barkley about Doncic. Prior to last season, Barkley stated that the Luka Doncic-Kyrie Irving pairing wouldn't work.
That comment was made after the Mavericks signed Irving to a three-year, $126 million deal and again, Barkley ended up being proven wrong. The star duo took the franchise to the Finals and silenced many of their doubters along the way.
Doncic and Irving had faced a lot of criticism after the Mavericks failed to make the playoffs in 2023 and they showed that they are capable of taking a team on a deep postseason run if they have a good supporting cast around them. The Mavericks ensured they got that by acquiring Dereck Lively II on draft night and then P.J. Washington and Daniel Gafford at the 2024 trade deadline.
Lively, Washington, and Gafford were great pieces to have next to Doncic and Irving and once they all came together, the Mavericks took off. Klay Thompson has now been added to this mix this offseason and it will be interesting to see just how far they go in 2024-25.
Related: Mark Cuban Says He Didn’t Fully Appreciate Dirk Nowitzki In His Prime, Won’t Make Same Mistake With Luka Doncic
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