Hallelukah: The Story of Luka Dončić

Originally taken from my website where I write short biographies about people I find interesting: https://carlsahn.com

Midway through the 2018–19 NBA season, there are a few surprises and non-surprises. The Warriors sit atop the Western conference, Derrick Rose is averaging almost 20 points per game, the Lebron-led Lakers are -.500, and James Harden is in the MVP race once again. Now whether any or all of these are surprises or foreseeable motifs is debatable from person to person, but one trend that many did not see coming was the dominance of European players this year.

In the East, Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo is leading the Milwaukee Bucks to the most current wins in the league and sits alongside James Harden in the MVP race. The number three Pacers heavily utilize both Bojan Bogdanović and Domantas Sabonis from Serbia and Lithuania, respectively. Throw in the stories of Boban (Serbia), Sviatoslav Mykhailiuk (Ukraine, 47th pick 2018 draft), veteran neighbors Nikola Vučević (Switzerland) and Nicolas Batum (France), and Bulls starter Lauri Markannen (Finland), and you have a nice case for Europeans playing a large role for half of the league.

Moving to the West, Serbian Nikola Jokić is helping the Nuggets to a shocking second place seed (only one game behind you-know-who). Jusuf Nurkić may have become the first Bosnian to record an NBA triple double while Jonas Jerebko could be the first Swede with a ring once the year is over*. German Dennis Schröder averages almost 30 minutes a game with the…