Richard Jefferson picks Luka Doncic as the number one player in NBA

One of his best performances in these playoffs came in Game 7 against the Phoenix Suns where he dropped 35 points and had 10 rebounds and 4 assists.

Luka Doncic in a file photo, Image credit: Twitter
By Sujay Gaurav | May 29, 2022 | 2 Min Read follow icon Follow Us

The Dallas Mavericks rode made it to the Western Conference Finals and that was very much in part to what Luka Doncic did during the course of the season. The All-Star put up some great numbers during the regular season and made sure that his team, the Mavs went from strength to strength. One of his best performances in these playoffs came in Game 7 against the Phoenix Suns where he dropped 35 points and had 10 rebounds and 4 assists. Dallas were in danger of getting swept by the Warriors in the Western Conference Finals but Doncic showed up in Game 4 to score 30 points to stop Golden State, albeit temporarily.

Former NBA champion, Richard Jefferson went as far as calling him the number one player in the NBA right. He was on NBA Today with Kendrick Perkins and Brian Windhorst when he said, “See, this is my thing. Where do I rank Luka? I rank him as the number one player that if I was a top 25 player and if I wanted to win a championship, he would be the one player that I would go and play with. 

“If I was a top player in the league, he is the guy that I would try and team up with in free agency. I say he is number one cause you are not going to be able to team up with Giannis. You are not going to team up with, you see what’s going on in Philly, you see what’s going on in Brooklyn and you see what’s going on in LA. If you see the top players in the league, he would be the number 1 guy that if I can pick to choose to play with, he would be that guy.” 

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Perkins says Luka is top 3

Fellow analyst, Kendrick Perkins who was also on the show did not go as far as Jefferson but sure did acknowledge the greatness of Doncic and said that he would take him over Joel Embiid and Nikola Jokic. “He is top 3 for sure”, Perkins said. “You can go ask all the GMs around the league. If you are starting a team, they probably will take Giannis number 1 and they would take Luka number 2. No disrespect to Joel Embiid and Jokic. They are doing great things. But when you have a guy like Luka. a guy that has a wag body, don’t rely on his athleticism. This is a compliment despite that he is out here giving these guys this work on a night to night basis. He is a top 3 player in the league right now.”