Dallas Mavericks guard Luka Doncic won an ESPY Thursday night after being voted the 2024 NBA Player of the Year.
The ESPYs have been held every year outside of 2020 since 1993, presenting awards to various athletes for high-level performances.
Doncic was nominated for the award alongside Denver Nuggets center Nikola Jokic, Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Doncic was previously nominated in this ESPY category in 2021 and 2022, but this year is the first time he has been selected as the winner.
He was one of just two players in the NBA to win an award on Thursday, with Celtics guard Jaylen Brown winning the award for Best Championship Performance for his play in the NBA Finals. He led Boston to a 4-1 series victory over the Mavericks.
The Slovenian guard led the entire NBA in scoring after averaging 33.9 points in 70 games during the regular season. He also led the Mavericks with averages of 9.2 rebounds, 9.8 assists, and 1.4 steals while shooting 48.7% from the field and 38.2% from the three-point line.
The regular season also consisted of Doncic leading the league in “35-point games (32), 40-point efforts (13), 30-point triple-doubles (16), 35-point triple-doubles (11), 40-point triple-doubles (2) and 20-5-5 games (60),” as stated by a Dallas Mavericks news release.
Following the conclusion of the regular season, Doncic was selected to the All-NBA First Team for the fifth consecutive season, becoming just the third player in NBA history to accumulate five selections before turning 26 years old, as previously reported by DX.
Doncic’s role as the offensive engine for Dallas continued throughout the playoffs as he led the franchise to its first finals berth since the Dirk Nowitzki-led Mavericks won the 2011 NBA Championship.
The Mavericks played a total of 22 games across four playoff series. Doncic once again led the team with averages of 28.9 points, 9.5 rebounds, 8.1 assists, and 1.9 steals.
Dallas will now look forward to the beginning of the 2024-2025 NBA season following an incredibly productive offseason that saw the team add Klay Thompson, Quentin Grimes, and Naji Marshall.
Dallas recently welcomed the three players to the franchise during a press conference earlier in the week, with all three expressing their excitement to join the team and play major roles on a championship contender.
