When the Boston Celtics won the ECF, Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown were the best players in the league. Now with one win away from winning the WCF, can Luka Doncic become the best in the world? Before answering the question, an ESPN analyst has a stat that would make you think a little more.

On GetUpESPN, Jay Williams dropped a bomb of a stat that even his colleagues on the table couldn’t believe. Alan Hahn had already claimed Doncic to be a better player and Williams did not disagree with it till a point. He said Doncic was a top-three player in the league and loved the Dallas Mavericks star. He further added that Doncic and Nikola Jokic, are the best offensive players in the league.

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving combined for 44 points on 13-of-39 shooting, not up to their usual production. Doncic took the blame for the defeat, claiming that he didn’t come out to play with the energy his team needed. But it’s not the offensive play that lacked according to Williams. It’s a defense issue.

“When have we ever said this about the best player in the league? The Mavs have had a better defensive rating with Luca on the bench than on the floor in every season of his career. If we’re talking about the best player in basketball, how could that stat be real? It can’t be, ” said Jay Williams.

No doubt Doncic is currently struggling with injuries. He even said “everything” when asked about what part of his body was hurting. But still, there is no excuse for a player of Luka Doncic’s caliber to have such statistics every season.

Hurt Luka Doncic will be benched?

Alan Hahn shared a bold take on Mavericks guard Luka Doncic.”Luka’s passed [Nikola] Jokic. He’s number one right now,” Hahn appeared on “Get Up” Thursday morning and declared Doncic the best player in the NBA. “He’s still playing. Jokic is not,” he added.

Well, there is no doubt that Doncic will play through the pain just like he has been doing for the past games. He’s done everything in the playoffs, triple-doubles, scoring-wise finishing big buckets. Through 16 playoff games this postseason, Doncic is averaging 41.8 minutes per game while scoring 28.3 points and adding 9.6 rebounds and 9.1 assists, the most during the playoffs.

Dallas Mavericks haven’t lost back-to-back games with Doncic in the lineup since early March. Of the 155 times an NBA team has gone down 0-3, zero have rallied back to win the series. But the Minnesota Timberwolves have held the lead in the final 5 minutes of every game. Can they do it?

Stay tuned for more such updates, and to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato had to say about the marketing genius, watch this video.