Any pre Mavs Doncic Fans here?

[SportPsychMav]

Back in the day we had a lot of "Dirk only" fans from Germany (and a few from here).  I'm guessing that's because the NBA wasn't as global back then, so a German's exposure to basketball was primarily through the nation team, and Dirk lead that team to places it had never been before.  Luka hasn't had a chance to play for his country at that level yet, and the Real Madrid fans are used to success so they probably don't have that level of attachment to him.

What are you talking about? 

Luka has won European Championship with his national team as the at least 2nd best player at age 18.

On reddit there are a lot of Luka stans and Luka got almost voted in as an all-star starter.

There is no question that Luka stans exist.

[bartlettbear]

I am pre DIrk fan that are not many of us left on this, 83-84

[SkenfromLMF]

I am pre-Brad Davis

[Davevoid]

Eurobasket 2017 was really enjoyable, my team finally beat France in order to advance to the quarterfinals, and Slovenia won as huge underdogs. Goran Dragic was their MVP, Anthony Randolph the glue guy, and they've had a young phenomenon on their roster, who was already being touted the most talented Euro of all time. He was pretty good and hit some crazy shots, albeit looked like a milkface, in Dirk's immortal words...

As I was sure that he'd be picked at #1 or #2, I didn't follow his subsequent European exploits closely, since there was no way the Mavs would be in position to draft him. I mean, right?

Fast forward to draft night, where the Mavs owned the fifth pick and surely would choose some solid guy like Mo Bamba or the generic under-sized guard, which they always seemed to love.
All off a sudden, they put Woj's tweet on the ESPN-broadcast: "The Atlanta Hawks have agreed to a trade on principle with the Dallas Maveri..."
BAAANG!
Didn't even have to read the full tweet, I immediately realized that we were getting Luka. The rest was a solid minute of fist-bumping the air and trying not to wake my neighbors, hehe...

[Magickian]

I am pre DIrk fan that are not many of us left on this,  83-84

hey now... I remember being knee high to a duck and watching the 88 playoffs... but I barely remember it... but I remember people in my house excited and it ignited the fuel... then I was a fan all through the 90s... when we drafted Kidd that is when I began to really pay attention...

then the whole 3 Js debacle went down ugly with Toni Braxton or whatever happened between them all... I lost a little faith and rooted for the Bulls to see Jordan go at it again another threepeat when he came back...

Then we drafted Dirk... that is when my fandom locked in for good. 

So yeah I was young but I locked in early my friend.

[audiosway]

Oh yeah. I had him and Jaren Jackson as my top 2 in the draft leading up to it. I was high on both but had Jackson 1st. Then, the last day or so before the draft I went with Luka. I just knew he had it. I still say when it's all said and done that Luka and Jaren will be the best 2 to come of that draft. I said then that I thought Luka would be a first ballot hall of famer when he retired.

[MrGoat]

Been a Mav fan since before Luka was born, but I was a Luka fan well before we drafted him. I was convinced he was the best player in the draft and was furious at the front office that we didn't finish with the worst record in the NBA despite our league worst pathetic start in 2017-18' primarily because I thought we were costing ourselves a shot at drafting him and I abrasively posted so on the other boards. I'm not going to give any credit to those who say it worked out in the end though because we were unbelievably fortunate that Phoenix and Sacramento passed on him (especially the Kangs), we still should have maximized our odds that year

[radioaktiv]

I was a Euroleague Luka fan, but I tempered it... I wanted us to get him so badly, but I felt like if we couldn't, my fandom would lessen.  I mean, there were players from other NBA teams I liked (UTA Deron Williams, SAS Kawhi) but it's always like I cap my fandom for them at around 70% just because they're not with my Mavs.  So imagine my joy when I read that Woj tweet announcing the ATL trade...

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Oh yeah. I had him and Jaren Jackson as my top 2 in the draft leading up to it. I was high on both but had Jackson 1st. Then, the last day or so before the draft I went with Luka. I just knew he had it. I still say when it's all said and done that Luka and Jaren will be the best 2 to come of that draft. I said then that I thought Luka would be a first ballot hall of famer when he retired.

I've always loved your draft takes.  IIRC you were also the one pulling for us to get Donovan Mitchell, right?

There's not much NCAA games coverage in my part of the world, so I relied a lot on listening to guys like you who shared views on NCAA players.

[ClutchDirk]

Oh yeah. I had him and Jaren Jackson as my top 2 in the draft leading up to it. I was high on both but had Jackson 1st. Then, the last day or so before the draft I went with Luka. I just knew he had it. I still say when it's all said and done that Luka and Jaren will be the best 2 to come of that draft. I said then that I thought Luka would be a first ballot hall of famer when he retired.

Aren't you glad I helped convince you to switch to Luka at the last moment...

[dcon]

I've been following the Mavs since the mid-90's with the original 3 J's -- Jason Kidd, Jamal Mashburn and Jim Jackson..  Some seasons I'm more in-tune than others..

I did not know much of Luka up until about 3 months before we drafted him at 5.  I learned about him here, on this (new) board.. of course.. where else.

[TurkishMFFL]

I have been a fan of him since he started playing for Real Madrid. I expressed my thought on our previous board, too. I was praying for the Mavs to pick him at the draft but honestly I thought he would be gone to the Suns.

I was so happy to learn that he was a Mavs player in the morning. (The draft was around 3 am local time).