Former Michael Jordan Teammate: Luka Doncic Reminiscent of MJ

Former NBA player Stacey King compares the Mavs star to the Chicago Bulls legend.

Due to his stellar play, Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic has drawn many comparisons to NBA greats throughout his first four seasons in the league. In a recent podcast episode, that trend continued as NBA veteran Stacey King compared the playoff antics of Doncic to Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan.  

"All the talking (Devin) Booker and all those guys were doing that upset Luka, I remember after the game they're walking off and Luka made some comment," King said. "When I saw him do that it brought back MJ DNA, that's something MJ would do, that's something Larry Bird would do." 

After a Game 5 loss to the Phoenix Suns in the Western Conference semifinals, Doncic said: "Everybody acts tough when they are up." 

“Everybody acts tough when they’re up”

- Luka
pic.twitter.com/Q1y1hQusjm

— NBACentral (@TheDunkCentral) May 11, 2022

Motivation for Doncic?

Dallas would go on to win the next two games to win the series. In the 123-90 Game 7 win, Doncic scored 35 points and had 10 rebounds. 

King offered more insight into how Doncic reminds him of Jordan, his former teammate on the Bulls. King imagines Jordan thinking: "You want to talk trash, now you done woke me up. Now I'm getting ready to make you pay."

This is not the first time the Mavericks star was compared to his Royal Airiness. In the playoffs, the comparison grew. Doncic averaged 31.7 points, 9.8 rebounds and 6.4 assists in the playoffs this year, numbers reminiscent of Jordan's in the postseason.

Still, there's plenty that still separates Doncic from Jordan, namely  championships and MVP awards.

Doncic finished fifth in MVP voting last season. FanDuel has Doncic and Joel Embiid as the leaders for 2023 MVP odds. Doncic, 23, needs to rack up more team and individual honors to build a résumé that compares to No. 23.