Luka Dončić

As evening arrived on March 31, 2024, and the Houston Rockets prepared to bring their 11-game win streak into a Texas-style dust-up against the Dallas Mavericks — on a six-game tear of their own — it wouldn’t be long before Houston found that no moment was too big for Luka Dončić. Unfortunately for them, it also meant the town wouldn’t be big enough for the both of them. Seemingly poised to gift-wrap a bucket for every defender on Houston’s payroll, Dončić flips the switch to “trick-shot mode,” with Dallas ahead by 23. Calm in his aura, even with Jabari Smith Jr. playing his quick-twitch handle expertly and the play clock dwindling, Dončić pump-fakes before almost floating inside the 3-point arc, balancing into a one-legged, 21-foot-away finger roll, evoking an audibly-frustrated groan from the stunned road crowd. For most players, a 22-point, eight-rebound, four-assist performance represents a solid day’s work; for Dončić, it was merely his first quarter tally. In a showcase that upped the volume on his Most Valuable Player case tenfold, Dončić — without even needing to play much in the fourth — dazzled with 47 points, 12 rebounds, seven assists, two steals, and nine 3-pointers, lassoing in a win along the way.