Basketball

“Luka Doncic is very close to being a top 5 player”: Stephen A Smith lays out exactly how the Mavericks star can cement himself alongside LeBron James, Stephen Curry and co

Tonoy Sengupta
|PublishedMay 25, 2021

"Luka Doncic is very close to being a top 5 player": Stephen A Smith lays out exactly how the Mavericks star can cement himself alongside LeBron James, Stephen Curry and co

Stephen A. Smith announces what he believes that Luka Doncic needs to do, to be considered a top 5 player in the NBA today.

Luka Doncic has quite simply been exceptional over the course of his short NBA career so far. The leaps he has taken since his rookie season have already warranted him to possibly be part of the top-10 players in the league right now, at just 22-years-old.

At the moment, the player is leading his team against the LA Clippers in a first-round series once again. And after outclassing their opponents in game one completely, the Mavericks lead the series 1-0.

Like most of us, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith had also watched the game while being in awe of the Slovenian. And in a recent episode of ‘Stephen A’s world’, he explained how Luka Doncic could possibly be considered as a top-5 player in the NBA right now.

Also Read: Shaquille O’Neal stutters while trying to speak Serbian to the Nuggets MVP after win vs Blazers

“Luka Doncic might be squeaking into the top 5”: Stephen A. Smith

Stephen A. Smith has made a career out of making hot takes with the passion of someone begging for their life. Oftentimes, his shows result in some serious laughs for the NBA community, whether his opinion was popular or unpopular. However, this time, it seems just about everyone is in stern agreement with his comments on Luka Doncic. Take a listen.

“We got LeBron, we got KD, we got James Harden, now that he’s back healthy. We got Steph Curry, we got cats like that. I don’t know if I put Luka in the top 5, he’s top 10.”

“He might be squeaking into the top 5, especially if he beats Kawhi, we can definitely put him ahead o Kawhi. But he’s got to do that before he’ll even warrant consideration on that top-5 level.”

Smith then went on to say that Luka is just 22 and that he will absolutely get there eventually, an opinion we are inclined to side with.

Still, if the player indeed manages to lead his team past the Clippers, it certainly wouldn’t be egregious to include him in the best 5 players in the NBA.

Also Read: NBA Fans react to EJ subtly roasting the Lakers legend while commenting on Nuggets’ Shaq Harrison

About the author

Tonoy Sengupta

Tonoy Sengupta is a Senior Editor at The SportsRush. Coming from an athletically inclined family, he has been surrounded by sports ever since he was 4 years old. But, while initially pouring all his time into Football (soccer), at 14, Tonoy discovered basketball through the countless highlights of Stephen Curry humiliating players from Curry Land. And just like that, a fiery passion for the game was ignited within Tonoy. And soon after, he decided to become a student of journalism, graduating in 2022, and choosing sports as his area of interest. Today, you can find him spending 99% of his time browsing through every type of content on every team in the NBA, before uncorking everything he has found to the world. In the 1% he isn't doing this, you can find him playing Basketball, Football, Volleyball, or practically any other sport he has had the opportunity to learn.