I Love That Luka Loves The Step Back Jumper
God dammit do I love Luka Doncic. I could seriously blog him everyday because he’s just that awesome. I saw this very topical Luka meme be floated around this morning and not only did it make me laugh, it also made me think about one of my favorite plays from any player this season.
The Luka Step Back
To say Luka’s stepback is a legit weapon almost does it a disservice. If you don’t watch much Mavs basketball maybe you aren’t all that familiar with this, but honestly at this point I am ready to put this move from Luka up there with with other great stepbacks like Harden’s, Curry’s, Kemba’s, Kyrie’s, Durant’s etc. It’s that good and what I love about it is Luka unleashes it at high pressure big testicle moments. See for yourself
I’m not embarrassed to say it. I love the Luka Step Back. Not only does he shoot it at a high clip, but the space he creates while NOT traveling is so impressive. For a guy who many consider not very athletic, something tells me as long as he has this move in his bag who cares about his athleticism. A lot of people wondered how his game would translate against NBA competition, almost as if he wasn’t already showing us this step back overseas
Now let’s get to the actual numbers. A Luka step back is the 2nd most frequent shot in his arsenal, with 80 FGA so far on the season. Of those 80, 65 of them are coming from behind the arc. Luka’s EFG% on this move is 48.8%, and he has 35/33% normal splits with this move. It certainly feels better than that and maybe that’s because the of the moments in which he pulls them out, but I was curious how this stacks up against some other legit step back takers, given the fact that he’s just 19 years old. This is what I found.
James Harden: 210 step backs with 41/42% splits (196 are 3PA)
Clearly the leader in the step back attempt clubhouse, but he also maybe sometimes travels on his so let’s keep looking
Kyrie Irving: 24 step backs with 41/28% splits (7 are 3PA)
For someone who is nasty at these, it hasn’t been a huge part of Kyrie’s game so far this season.
Steph Curry: 33 step backs with 63/66% splits (21 are 3PA)
What the fuck did I just write? How is that even possible? Curry is an alien, no other explanation.
Kevin Durant: 35 step backs with 60/40% splits (5 are 3PA)
Where Durant is different is he uses his step back to create space not for threes, but for a lethal midrange game. Try guarding that when it’s being done by a 6’10 player. Nope.
CJ McCollum: 75 step backs with 45/25% splits (20 are 3PA)
A close comp to Luka while his shot is much better, but he’s also much older with more experience but CJ is always among the leaders in step back attempts
Kemba Walker: 60 step backs with 53/66% splits (15 are 3PA)
The closest thing we have to Curry’s production. Kemba has basically made a living off this move dating all the way back to college so this makes sense.
Devin Booker: 33 step backs with 42/38% splits (18 are 3PA)
Here is another player like Luka where the majority of his step backs are threes, and his production is pretty identical. Considering Booker is one of the best young scorers in the league, I’d say that’s pretty good.
LeBron James: 56 step backs with 50/48% splits (37 are 3PA)
Remember when people said LeBron couldn’t shoot? Sheesh.
So as you can see, what we’re seeing from Luka just 36 games into his NBA career in regards to this move is pretty impressive. It’s fair to say that this move isn’t the most efficient, and it’s not very often that rookies have the freedom to take this type of shot so frequently, but that’s why Luka is Luka. He’s not a normal rookie and Rick Carlisle clearly is fine with him doing whatever he wants. It’s at the point now where if the Mavs need a big bucket chances are you’re getting a Luka step back, and just think of where this move and this shot might get to in just a few years by the time he’s like 21. It may not be Curry/Kemba level of efficiency, but it for sure is going to be one of the more unstoppable moves you’ll see.
This may have been way too much about a random shot based off an Instagram post, but that’s the power of Luka, he makes you care about shit that you didn’t even know you cared about in the first place.
Long live the Luka step back, I just hope the Celts are ready for it on Friday.