Dallas Mavericks: Luka Doncic should get the superstar calls from refs this year

Every year, there are some players that get every foul call from the NBA refs. This year, the Dallas Mavericks will likely benefit from this thanks to Luka Doncic.

It drives the NBA crazy every time James Harden slices through the lane, kicks his head back and draws a whistle out of the refs. This move has become such the norm that Harden is viewed as one of the most disliked players in the league. The Dallas Mavericks in particular have always disliked ‘The Beard’.

The interesting thing is that this type of officiating is linked to most of the superstars in the league. It is not that they aren’t getting fouled, in fact most of the time they are definitely getting hit on their way to the rim. It is just that not everyone gets those calls when they make their move to the hoop.

Last year, Luka Doncic did not get those superstar calls. He got fouled a lot and the refs called a lot of fouls for him, but there were numerous instances where Mavs fans recognized that he had not gotten some of the calls that any of the big name players would have gotten.

This year is going to be different. This year, they will know what a superstar looks like.

I am not condoning the fact that there is clear cut bias in the reffing of the league. There is no way to know what it all stems from and it could be just that the superstars know how to make the ref see the foul and call the foul. All I know is that Luka is about to hit the superstar level and that is going to come with a lot more free throws.

Which brings us to maybe the most important point of this and that is that Luka needs to get his free throw percentage up. Doncic shot just over 71% from free throw last season, a percentage that is far too low for a guy that is getting to the free throw line so frequently. Although his stats in the EuroLeague were not that much better (76.6% in Real Madrid career), this is a part of the game that needs to be at its best.

At the very least, Luka needs to improve his free throw shooting in the clutch. He missed a lot of big time free throws last year, some of which ended up costing the Mavs wins. As he grows in the league, I expect that number to get better, because it is a very important part of his game in particular.

Especially if the refs are calling things a little tighter for him.

The Mavs are set for a great season with superstar potential from their two big players. The NBA will recognize quickly just how good these youngsters are and the Mavericks will be on basketball fans’ radars before long.