It was a somber day in early December when the table was set to say goodbye to a legend. It would be J.J. Barea’s final day as a player for the Dallas Mavericks.
Donnie Nelson spoke to the media and offered his bittersweet remarks about Barea’s career. J.J. took questions as it was an emotional day for everyone. In Rick Carlisle’s interview, I wanted to ask him one question.
Obviously, the day was all about Barea’s success story and career in Dallas. But at the same time, I also wondered about the young Mavericks team Barea was departing in the middle of training camp. A team that is made up of 15 players under the age of 30. With Barea’s departure, it left just James Johnson and Boban Marjanovic as the only over-30 players. On top of that, Barea was a franchise legend and beloved by everyone. He was a leader.
So the question I wanted to ask Carlisle was about that leadership baton. With Barea now departing, who gets it next? After I uttered that question to Carlisle, he responded pretty quick and in a firm manner.
“Luka Doncic is our leader,” Carlisle said. “There is no question about that.”
I had put too much weight into the age part of the conversation. In the back of my mind, like a lot of Mavs fans, the 2011 title team still feels like yesterday. This was a squad that started three guys over the age of 30 in the Finals with four more coming off the bench. It was a veteran-laden team from top to bottom. But what about a 2020 Dallas Mavericks team, that by age and experience, is built virtually the opposite of the 2011 group?
Can Luka Doncic, at the age of 21, be the leader of a playoff team in the NBA?
Absolutely—because age doesn’t make a leader.
“There are certain players who have a certain leadership personality,” Carlisle said. “They have a charisma and magnetism. He [Luka Doncic] has that and that is no secret. Each year he becomes more and more that guy.”
When Doncic was acquired by Dallas in a draft night trade in 2018, the Mavs knew what they were getting: a European prodigy who was arguably the most decorated young European basketball player of all-time. Doncic went pro at the age of 13 at Real Madrid and over the course of his teenage years won the MVP of the Liga ACB, EuroLeague, and EuroLeague Final Four. It wasn’t just the highlights and stat lines that made Doncic stand out, it was also the fact that on a professional team with grown men, veterans such as Sergio Llull and Rudy Fernandez were deferring to the 18-year-old Doncic. And by following Doncic’s lead, Real Madrid found themselves hoisting several championship trophies in his last season in Europe.
Doncic then arrived in Dallas, a city and franchise that had been led for the past two decades by another European: Dirk Nowitzki. As Nowitzki was at the end of his career and the Mavericks still had long-standing veterans like Barea and Devin Harris, Doncic was just a teenaged rookie—no matter how accomplished he had been overseas. But Doncic, a natural leader, had respect for his new vets and didn’t want to step on any toes.
As Doncic tight-roped the rookie-role, once he was on the court, it was clear that he was a natural leader. In the first week of voluntary scrimmages and workouts he was handing out instructions and telling teammates where to go. But as his first few years in the league went on, the veterans on the team, prior to Doncic’s arrival, slowly departed. In the same week, the Mavs traded DeAndre Jordan, Wesley Matthews and Harrison Barnes. Nowitzki rode off into the sunset a few months later. Harris is working for Fox Sports Southwest and Barea is no longer on the team.
There was no doubt remaining. This is Luka Doncic’s team.
But it isn’t just because he’s the best player on the team. It isn’t like a quarterback situation in football. For a lot of NFL teams, whoever starts at quarterback is deemed a team captain by default. Some might think that for an NBA team that whoever the best player is on the team is naturally thrust into the top leadership role when that simply isn’t the case every time.
“There are instances where the best player is not a leader,” said a former scout for the Boston Celtics. “They either don’t have the characteristics of a leader, or they lead in different ways. Some players lead vocally and some are introverted and lead through example.”
The scout continued by using Paul Pierce as a prime example of that. “Pierce was clearly the team’s best player, but he was quiet for the most part and let his game and work ethic do his leading for him. Antoine Walker was an All-Star level player but not as talented as Pierce. He was the team’s backbone and heart. He did most of the talking and the players looked to him for leadership.”
Leadership is basically the process or method in which someone motivates or influences the behavior of others—but how that is done looks different for everyone. Leadership styles differ by the person. Some leaders like to direct, point and vocally coach people into reaching their fullest potential while some leaders tone it back vocally and lead by example. On a recent episode of The Old Man & the Three Podcast, Barea was talking about Dirk’s incredible 2011 run while also describing him as a leader to the team. “He doesn’t talk much,” Barea said. “If you know him, he leads by example. But he doesn’t lead by talking.”
That was Nowitzki’s style of leadership. His work ethic, hours in the gym, and play on the biggest of stages earned him the respect in the locker room. In a way, the leadership path has already been paved in Dallas for Doncic. And in the first few years of his young career, he is doing exactly that.
“He’s an MVP candidate and is a born leader on the floor as you can see,” says a former assistant coach. “He’s not one of those guys it seems that will be on everyone all day every day, but once he’s on the floor it’s a completely different story.”
Doncic set the records and served up magical highlights. He dished out fun passes and put-up stat lines as a rookie that put him with some of the greats. His play on the court earned him the respect, but it was the fun, carefree style and charisma that opened up a lane of leadership that loosened up the mood for everyone.
“He is the type of guy who leads by his play,” Willie Cauley-Stein said. “And when he does, it is fun. He’s a kid. He has fun with the game and you can tell. The way he crafts and approaches the game is fun.”
Nobody likes the uptight, all-serious boss, the one you dread seeing every Monday morning and Chick-Fil-A being open on Sunday is more likely to happen than seeing a smile on their face. That type of leadership isn’t motivating to a lot of people. But Luka is the opposite of that. When you have a leader that breaks the ice, it enables the people around them to fully spread their wings.
“For him, I think he leads by making everything fun instead of so serious all of the time…Luka is always coming in with something to lighten the mood,” Cauley-Stein continued.
When talking to Kristaps Porzingis about Luka as a leader, he too pointed not just to his leading on the court, but how that care-free mentality is a way of leadership. “It comes natural to him because he is capable of doing great things on the court,” Porzingis said. “He is leading by playing great basketball. He has that I-don’t-care mentality when he needs to. I mean that in a good way. He is not afraid of the big moments. He can be careless and that is why he can play so freely. That is just Luka.”
There is never a moment too big for Luka. His basketball knowledge is off the charts and he already has a LeBron-like ability to maximize everyone’s strengths around him on the basketball court. When he was given the Matador nickname early on in his career from former assistant coach, Mike Procopio, it wasn’t because of the Spanish background, but because of the control he has on the court and the entertaining show he puts on for the crowd. Luka has a gravitational force about him that not only draws in the crowd and fans, but teammates too. “Luka is in control from tip to final buzzer and his teammates know it,” one former assistant told me. “He reminds me of Tom Brady to be honest. Someone that was born to lead an organization and has the generational type talent to back it up… he’s a fantastic kid that people gravitate to. He’s great with teammates, coaches, fans. It’s easy to see how all of Europe loved the kid…well besides the fans of the teams he destroyed in the ACB & EuroLeague.”
Doncic is a leader, but he’s an evolving leader in my opinion. When you talk to anyone around the team about Doncic as a leader, you will naturally hear about him leading by example. After losing to the Hornets at home earlier in the season, Doncic didn’t go immediately to the ice bath nor did he leave the arena. He stayed on the court after the game getting up shots with assistant coaches for more than 30 minutes. This is what leaders do. When the team and head coach preached about defense to start the season, it is Doncic that has set the tone defensively (Carlisle’s words, not mine) for what is now a top five defense in the NBA over the first few weeks. That is what leaders do.
Doncic leads by example, but where he has evolved is in his leadership when the ball isn’t in his hands. Luka the leader looked different as a rookie. The majority of his leadership came from the play on the basketball court. But as the past year or so has gone along, Luka the leader of men has evolved.
“He has grown with his chemistry with the guys,” Brunson said. “He has been able to connect with everybody. Guys feed off his energy. That is our go-to guy. He has definitely evolved [as a leader]. There is obviously a lot on his shoulders at the age of 21 and we have to be there to protect him and help him every step of the way.”
When the Mavs went to Orlando for the bubble experience last fall, the only access to the team for fans across the world was what social media provided. Pictures and videos of the team fishing, swimming, playing pickleball and plenty of other activities circulated on social media. The Mavs became the source for fun content and the team’s chemistry was off the charts. So, who was getting the team together for all of that?
“When you got your leader in Luka, and Luka’s a guy that he loves his teammates and he’s always texting ‘hey let’s do this, let’s play cards, let’s go to the pool, let’s go fishing,” Barea said. “It’s all about the team and about having fun.”
When the Mavs were up at pick 31 in the 2020 NBA draft and selected Tyrell Terry out of Stanford in the second round, who was the first Maverick to reach out to him a short time after?
Luka Doncic.
Going back to Barea, there was more to the quote. In describing Dirk’s leadership, he said, “He doesn’t talk much. If you know him, he leads by example. But he doesn’t lead by talking.”
The second half of that quote was this.
“But that year [2011], in timeouts and before the games, he was talking. He was talking loud, pointing fingers. He was on all the time.” Barea said.
Nowitzki evolved as a leader. He picked his spots to be more hands-on and vocal. James Johnson, who has only been with the Mavericks a few short months, had this to say about Doncic as the leader of the team.
“Emerging,” Johnson said. “He is definitely emerging, if not already, as the leader of our team. He is still building and letting his game do the speaking and yet still being able to voice his own opinion in practice.”
It’s that balance that Luka is now discovering in his third season. Dirk paved his own leadership path with the Mavs for over two decades, but Luka isn’t Dirk and that is OK. He is paving his own leadership path and it’s one that brings the best out of his teammates. It maximizes their strengths and inspires them to be better. It allows everyone to have fun and brings the team together both on and off the court.
Luka isn’t Dirk or anyone else. He is Luka Doncic and the leader of the Dallas Mavericks.
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