Luka Doncic becomes youngest player to win EuroLeague MVP
May 19, 2018, 2:10 PM | Updated: May 21, 2018, 1:38 pm
Slovenia's Luka Doncic, center, celebrates with teammates during their Eurobasket European Basketball Championship quarter final match against Latvia, in Istanbul, Tuesday, Sept. 12. 2017. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
(AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)
Potential No. 1 overall NBA draft pick Luka Doncic was named the EuroLeague MVP a day after leading Real Madrid to a Final Four EuroLeague victory.
He is the youngest player to be named Most Valuable Player in the league.
As of Saturday, Doncic has averaged 16.1 points, 4.9 rebounds and 4.4 assists per game during EuroLeague play.
Additionally, he had a league-leading 21.8 PIR, a statistic used by the EuroLeague to measure efficiency. It is somewhat similar to PER, but does not weigh the importance of different statistic categories.
Doncic is the only player under 25 years old to lead the league in PIR, according to a EuroLeague video.
The 2017-18 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague MVP!
What a season from @luka7doncic pic.twitter.com/QWNgutxJne
— EuroLeague (@EuroLeague) May 19, 2018
The guard became the youngest player in league history to win MVP of the Month after Real Madrid lost last season’s MVP, Sergio Lull to a knee injury and the young guard took over in October, according to EuroLeague.
Doncic is the first Slovenian to win the MVP.
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Real Madrid will play for the championship on Sunday.
The Phoenix Suns will be paying attention to the results; general manager Ryan McDonough said they are considering five to ten players with the No. 1 pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, one of whom is the Slovenian guard.
Doncic and Arizona center Deandre Ayton are widely considered the top two prospects entering the draft.
However, Doncic has not officially confirmed he plans to join the NBA next season; prior to the Final Four game, he said he has not yet made his decision.
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