Dallas Mavericks: Luka Doncic snubbed in ESPY nominations

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic was snubbed as the ESPY nominations came out. See the surprising player that made the list over Doncic.

Dallas Mavericks fans know Luka Doncic hit the ground running in his transition to the NBA. He started from opening night, and it was clear then that Doncic was going to be special.

Luka had an astonishing rookie season. He averaged 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6.0 assists in 32.2 minutes per game. Doncic became the first rookie since 2011 to average over 21 points per game. He was the first 19-year-old to do it since Carmelo Anthony in 2004. Luka had a historic first season.

Doncic is the favorite to win Rookie of the Year. The NBA awards will be announced on June 24.

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Luka Doncic got snubbed in the ESPY nominations, though. Let us take a look.

Doncic not among Best Breakthrough Athlete

Despite turning the NBA on its head and becoming one of the best players in the league before turning 20, Luka Doncic did not get nominated for the Best Breakthrough Athlete ESPY.

Three of the nominees are difficult to argue with, though. Saquon Barkley had a stellar rookie year for the New York Giants, Christian Yelich was the NL MVP, and Naomi Osaka became the number one tennis player in the world.

The fourth nominee is Trae Young. Doncic was better than Young in nearly every way as a rookie. Fans can read more about that here.

Mavericks fans are not happy. Dwain Price tweeted the following on June 21.

Many are surprised that Luka Doncic was not an ESPY nominee in the Best Breakthrough Athlete category. He put up 21.2 pts, 7.8 reb. and 6.0 assists per game -- along with 8 triple-doubles -- as a rookie this past season. If that ain't "breakthrough," I'm totally confused. @ESPN
— Dwain Price (@DwainPrice) June 21, 2019

The only thing that could justify ESPN’s thinking would be that Doncic may not have technically broken out. He was the MVP of the EuroLeague and Liga ACB in Spain in 2018. Doncic also won the EuroLeauge Rising Star two years in a row. He had plenty of significant accomplishments heading into his NBA career.

Still, Luka Doncic had an NBA breakout. It was disappointing that he was not nominated for the award. Luka will receive plenty of honors during his NBA career, though. Fans should be excited about his second season and future with the Mavericks.

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