Luka Doncic

Los Angeles Lakers legend Magic Johnson jokingly suggested the Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic should head to L.A. in the future so he can link up with Anthony Davis.

Johnson was discussing Davis' probable decision of re-signing with the Lakers so the franchise can defend the title it won Sunday night by defeating the Miami Heat when the topic of Doncic, one of the NBA's newest superstars, popped up on ESPN's First Take.

"Aye that's right, Luka come on to the Lakers, I like that," Johnson said Monday (via CBS Sports' Jasmyn Wimbish).

The remark came at the urging of First Take co-host Max Kellerman suggesting potential running mates for Davis after LeBron James eventually retires.

Johnson had originally said "we're not worried about Luka [and the Mavericks] right now."

The 61-year-old Hall of Famer served as the Lakers' president from February 2017 through April 2019, when he resigned the role.

He'd drawn criticism and league punishment for his willingness to discuss players under contract with other teams, including a $500,000 fine for the Lakers' organization related to comments he and general manager Rob Pelinka made about then-Indiana Pacers forward Paul George in 2017.

"I want to go back to having fun," Johnson told reporters after stepping down. "I want to go back to being who I was before taking on this job."

No longer bound by anti-tampering rules, he can once again publicly recruit for the Lakers.

That said, Johnson's comments about Doncic were more light-hearted than serious. The standout point guard can't even become a restricted free agent until 2022, and the Mavs will likely offer him a monster contract extension. Even if he hits the open market, Dallas would likely match any offer sheet in a heartbeat.

James, 35, hasn't shown any signs of slowing down anyway. He continues to play at an MVP level and needs to win two more titles to match Michael Jordan, a key benchmark in the conversation about the greatest basketball player in history.  

Even in his 17th season, LeBron James remains the most popular player in the NBA.

The Los Angeles Lakers star had the top-selling jersey in the league since the restart in July, while he and his teammate Anthony Davis had made the Lakers the top-selling team:

Los Angeles will take on the Miami Heat in the NBA finals starting Wednesday after going 12-3 through the first three rounds of the playoffs. It's the first finals appearance for the Lakers since 2010, although James has now reached this round 10 times in his career.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic was also among the best-sellers after an incredible run in the NBA bubble in Orlando. The second-year player earned first-team All-NBA honors thanks to his production during the regular season, but he found a whole new level with two 40-point games in the six-game series loss to the Los Angeles Clippers.

He averaged 31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists per game in his first playoff series.

Stars like Stephen Curry, Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving weren't even in the bubble but fans still purchased their jerseys.

Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic has a Rookie of the Year and All-NBA first-team selection on his resume at 21 years old.

There is no doubting he is a current and future star in the NBA, and talent evaluators clearly agree. Michael Scotto of HoopsHype shared results from the website's poll of 15 talent evaluators—four general managers, six executives and five scouts—and Doncic was a unanimous choice when asked who they would build around among all players under 25 years old.

"To me, Luka is the clear No. 1," one scout said. "He's a guy who can be a lead ball-handler. He's good enough to score and create at a high level, has the right mental makeup and is incredibly smart. He's been a winner everywhere and will probably be a winner in the league."

Jayson Tatum was No. 2 on the list, while Devin Booker, Ja Morant, Donovan Mitchell and Bam Adebayo rounding out the top six in that order, with the latter two tying. They all finished ahead of the No. 1 pick in the last draft, Zion Williamson, who tied Jamal Murray for seventh place.

Multiple evaluators pointed to Williamson's injury concerns, even though the Duke product still has one of the highest ceilings in the NBA.

As for Doncic, Scotto noted he became the first player to make the All-NBA first team in a first or second season since Tim Duncan did so in 1999. Not even LeBron James can say he did that, which is a testament to how quickly the Mavericks guard has adapted to the NBA game.

The Slovenia native averaged 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds, 8.8 assists and 1.0 steals per game while shooting 46.3 percent from the field and 31.6 percent from three-point range during the 2019-20 campaign while leading Dallas to a 43-32 record.

That was a marked improvement from its 33-49 record during the 2018-19 season.

Although the Mavericks lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Los Angeles Clippers, Doncic further cemented his status as one of the league's best players with a buzzer-beater three in Game 4 to cap off a 43-point triple-double.

The No. 3 overall pick in the 2018 draft averaged 31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists a night in the series while dealing with defenders such as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

That sounds like someone to build around.

The three All-NBA teams were announced Wednesday, led by Los Angeles Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis on the first team:

Reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is a finalist for that award again this season, was also named to the first team for the second year in a row.

Giannis and LeBron were the only unanimous selections for the first team, per Erik Horne of The Athletic.

James Harden was named first-team All-NBA for the fifth straight season, while Luka Doncic made his first appearance on an All-NBA team in his second season.

Doncic becomes the first player to earn first-team All-NBA honors in one of his first two seasons since Tim Duncan in 1999, per Brad Townsend of the Dallas Morning News.

There was also history made with James' selection, as the 35-year-old became the first player ever to be named All-NBA in 16 seasons. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Kobe Bryant and Tim Duncan all had 15 appearances on the all-league teams.

This is the 13th time he was named to the first team.

Chris Paul and Russell Westbrook were each honored for the ninth time by a panel of sports writers and broadcasters. Jayson Tatum, Pascal Siakam and Ben Simmons each earned their first selections this year.

Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid earned three first-place votes, but it wasn't enough to get an All-NBA spot. 

Washington Wizards star Bradley Beal also fell short of the third team despite finishing second in the NBA with an average of 30.5 points per game. He was snubbed for the All-Star Game as well this season.

Denver Nuggets star Nikola Jokic jabbed back at Los Angeles Clippers guard Patrick Beverley for suggesting he plays up contact to get more calls.

Beverley took a shot at both Jokic and the Dallas Mavericks' Luka Doncic after the Clips took a 2-1 series lead over Jokic's Nuggets with a 113-107 victory Monday night.

He compared the European standouts' attempts to play up contact to draw fouls:

Jokic nearly carried Denver to a Game 3 win as he tallied 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in 39 minutes. No other member of the Nuggets scored more than 18 points. The Serbian center didn't do much damage from the free-throw line, however, making three of his four attempts.

"What is a flailing mean?" Jokic said. "... They had 26 free throws. We had 10. I am just showing the ref it is a foul."

He added: "You need to know when to be aggressive. You need to know to get into the body. Sometimes the advantage of the whistle is on your side or on the opponent's side. They are a little bit more experienced than us in those situations, so maybe that's it."

The Clippers' superstar tandem of Paul George and Kawhi Leonard combined for 55 points on 21-of-37 shooting, and L.A. as a whole shot 54.7 percent from the field.

"They're talented," Jokic told reporters. "They're favorite on paper and everything, have maybe better starting unit, more players, whatever. Coach, whatever. ... Today, we didn't close well. The effort needs to be there to give ourselves a chance to win a game."

Los Angeles eliminated Doncic and the Mavs in six games during the first round. Dallas' budding MVP candidate averaged 31.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists in the series.

Meanwhile, Beverley was previously fined $25,000 after Game 2 of the Nuggets series for verbal abuse of a game official that led to his ejection from Denver's 110-101 win.

Game 4 of the Western Conference Semifinal series is scheduled for Wednesday at 9 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The Los Angeles Clippers already defeated the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs and are competing for a championship, but Luka Doncic is clearly still on their mind.  

After Monday's 113-107 victory over the Denver Nuggets to take a 2-1 lead in the second-round series, Clippers guard Patrick Beverley took a shot at both Doncic and Nikola Jokic in one comment:

As was the case against Doncic in the first round, L.A. had few answers for Jokic in Monday's contest. The Nuggets big man threatened a triple-double with 32 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists and dominated for a three-minute stretch in the third quarter with three made three-pointers and an incredible full-court pass to Jerami Grant on a one-handed rebound.

Still, the Clippers excelled down the stretch and finished the game on a 23-10 run to secure the victory and series lead.

There is a level of irony in Beverley complaining about other players flailing and pressuring the officials to make calls considering his style of play is basically designed to annoy the opposing point guard and let the refs know when they miss calls.

He was ejected during Los Angeles' Game 2 loss for picking up back-to-back technicals and let the officials hear about missed calls multiple times in Monday's contest.

One wonders how animated he would have been going up against Doncic in the first round considering he played in just one of the six games because of an injury. Marcus Morris Sr. took over the role of agitator, fouling Doncic hard with a flagrant, yelling at the Mavericks superstar and even stepping on his foot near his injured ankle. 

Still, Beverley was focused on how both Doncic and Jokic try to manipulate the officials after his team's key win Monday.

One of the guilty pleasures of any NBA 2K game is the ability to get an updated virtual edition of the league and its best up-and-coming players. 

And then take them into MyGM and MyLeague, of course. 

While the playoffs proceed as planned from the bubble in Orlando, Florida, 2K Sports still has a Friday launch date for NBA 2K21.

There is one small catch, though: The player ratings included in the game at launch will mirror the current player ratings in NBA 2K20 given the playoffs have yet to crown a champ and big items such as the draft and free agency haven't happened. 

Still, it's pretty easy to see which players stand out as the best young stars to build around over the long term in the upcoming game (and which stars are likely to get ratings bumps when the big ratings patch happens). 

Take Luka Doncic as the perfect example. The No. 3 pick from the 2018 draft kept the Dallas Mavericks right in the thick of it in the Western Conference playoffs before succumbing to the second-seeded Los Angeles Clippers in a 4-2 series. 

But Doncic capped off a downright incredible season in which he averaged 28.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 8.8 assists while shooting 46.3 percent from the floor. That epic six-game series saw him average 31 points, 9.8 rebounds and 8.7 assists while bumping his shooting percentage to 47.4 percent. 

Grabbing a 6'7" guard with that sort of scoring potential at all of 21 years old is a no-brainer in long-term modes like MyGM. Doncic had already elevated his rating to the 95-plus area and there's no reason to think that changes anytime soon. 

Donovan Mitchell of the Utah Jazz is another Western Conference powerhouse to consider for such a role. His third season saw him post averages of 24 points and 4.3 assists while shooting 44.9 percent from the floor. 

Like Doncic, all Mitchell did in the playoffs was erupt in a seven-game series against Denver, ultimately losing but averaging 36.3 points on 52.5 percent shooting from the floor, highlighted by two games with 51-plus points. 

Soon to be just 24 years old, one of the NBA's premier young scorers makes for an obvious choice when players have to start building a franchise around a centerpiece, as that sub-90 rating isn't going to hold for much longer. 

One really can't rattle off about the next wave of big NBA superstars under the age of 25 or so without talking about New Orleans Pelicans star Zion Williamson, who turned 20 in July.

The 2019 draft's top pick only got in 24 games last season, yet he averaged 22.5 points and 6.3 rebounds while shooting 58.3 percent from the floor—a mid-80s rating will go mid-90s in a hurry. 

Realistically, the NBA is in such a talent-rich era when it comes to the next generation of stars that it would be hard for players to mess up picking out solid foundational building blocks for MyGM and MyLeague. 

So far, 2K Sports has kept the two modes shrouded in mystery for the most part, only offering the following in a new developer blog: 

"Sit in the boss' chair, and make decisions that matter not only to your player or team—but to the entire franchise and league. From drafting impact rookies to trading players to relocating your team, every move, big or small, counts towards the long-term success—or failure—of your basketball franchise."

Given the depth of the modes in the past, it's hard to envision an NBA 2K release that won't feature these modes prominently while they guarantee players keep coming back for more. 

It certainly doesn't hurt that players will have a vast arsenal of younger superstars to pick from while formulating rosters for the future in the pursuit of building dynasties. At one point, NBA 2K21 cover star Damian Lillard was mentioned in the same manner, so a future cover star could easily be one of the above. 

The NBA has fined Los Angeles Clippers forward Marcus Morris Sr. $35,000 for "recklessly striking" Luka Doncic in Sunday's game against the Dallas Mavericks.

Morris was given a flagrant-2 foul and ejected in the first quarter, although the Clippers went on to win the game and clinch the first-round series in six games. According to the NBA, the veteran's history as a repeat offender contributed to a higher fine.

Doncic was also fined $15,000 for throwing the ball at a referee in a separate incident.

Morris and Doncic had an earlier confrontation in Game 5 of the series after Morris stepped on Doncic's injured ankle.

Though he didn't say the first incident was definitely intentional, Doncic believed the hard foul in Game 6 told the full story.

"It was a terrible play," the All-Star said after the game. "What can I say? It's two games in a row he did something like that. I really hoped the first game it wasn't on purpose, but looking back on the foul this game, you know what I think. I don't want to deal with that kind of player—just move on."

Morris responded on Instagram: "Cry me a river."

The veteran was able to avoid suspension as the Clippers progress in the NBA playoffs. They will face the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference Semifinals with Game 1 set for Thursday.

Morris averaged 12.8 points, 5.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game in the last series and could be an important factor going forward for Los Angeles.