Mavs Luka Doncic Selected for 3rd NBA All-Star Appearance

Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic might not be a starter this year, but he will still get to add 'NBA All-Star' to his career resumé for the third-consecutive season.

Dalton Trigg | Feb 3, 2022

When it comes to Luka Doncic, there aren't many other superlatives that can be used to express just how special he is. The 22-year-old Dallas Mavericks superstar has already recorded two All-NBA First Team appearances, as well as numerous signature game-winning moments, both in the regular season and the playoffs, and a franchise record-breaking number of triple-doubles.

On Thursday, Doncic added 'NBA All-Star' to his resumé for the third-consecutive year. Although Doncic's slow start to the 2021-2022 campaign resulted in him not making the All-Star game as a starter this time around, his averages of 26.0 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.9 assists per games were too good not to have him join his peers on All-Star Weekend.

Doncic joins an exclusive list of six players to earn three All-Star appearances before turning 23 years old. That list includes: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Shaquille O’Neal, Isiah Thomas, Kyrie Irving, Anthony Davis... and now Doncic.

In his first All-Star appearance during the 2019-2020 season, Doncic put up eight points and four assists while shooting 3-of-6 from the field in nearly 18 minutes of action. In his second All-Star appearance last season, Doncic again scored just eight points, shooting 3-of-7 from the field, but he doubled his assists by dishing out eight of them in 32 minutes.

As a reserve, will Doncic put on more of a show this time to remind everyone of how starter-worthy he is? Although that is possible, Doncic's demeanor in All-Star games so far in his career has been very laid back. He's just there to relax, throw a couple of alley-oops, attempt a couple of step-back threes, and rub elbows with his superstar buddy Nikola Jokic.

Despite missing multiple games this season due to ankle injuries and being in the NBA's COVID protocols, Doncic has led the Mavs to a 29-23 record, good for fifth-place in the Western Conference standings so far. With just 30 games remaining, Dallas trails Utah by just two games with three head-to-head matchups vs. the Jazz left on the schedule.

Published Feb 3, 2022

DALTON TRIGG

Dalton Trigg is the Editor-In-Chief for Dallas Basketball, as well as the Executive Editor overseeing Inside The Rockets, Inside The Spurs, All Knicks, and The Magic Insider. He is the founder and host for the Mavs Step Back Podcast, which is a proud part of the Blue Wire podcast network. Trigg graduated from the University of Southern Mississippi’s College of Business and Economic Development with a bachelor’s degree in entrepreneurship in 2016. After spending a few years with multiple Dallas Mavericks-related blogs, including SB Nation’s Mavs Moneyball, Trigg joined DallasBasketball.com as a staff writer in 2018 and never looked back. At the start of 2022, he was promoted to the EIC title he holds now. Through the years, Trigg has conducted a handful of high-profile one-on-one interviews to add to his resume — in both writing and podcasting. Some of his biggest interviews have been with Mavs owner Mark Cuban, Mavs GM Nico Harrison, now-retired legend Dirk Nowitzki and many other current/former players and team staffers. Many of those interviews and other articles by Trigg have been aggregated by other well-known sports media websites, such as Yahoo Sports, CBS Sports, Bleacher Report and others. You can find Trigg on all major social media channels, but his most prevalent platform is on Twitter. Whether it’s posting links to his DBcom work, live-tweeting Mavs games or merely giving his opinions on things going on with Dallas and the rest of the NBA, the daily content never stops rolling. For any inquiries, please email Dalton@MavsStepBack.com.