Anonymous assistant coach senses 'relief' among Luka Doncic's teammates when he is off the floor: Report

There's no argument that Luka Doncic is one of the best players in the world right now. The Dallas Mavericks superstar recently came third in NBA MVP voting, behind Nikola Jokic and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. However, one NBA assistant coach puts things into perspective by citing a sense of "relief" among his teammates when he sits down.

Howard Beck of The Ringer dug deep into Doncic's numbers outside of his typical triple-double averages and more on the advanced analytics. The report highlighted the Slovenian's talents but also questioned if he truly impacts winning outside of his personal stats.

According to an anonymous assistant coach, Doncic's main issue has always been his ball dominance. The coach assumes that there's a sense of "relief" among his teammates whenever he comes off or sits out a game because it means more freedom on offense.

"It's a sense of, 'Hey, now we get to play. It's difficult to have any rhythm if you're not touching the ball," the coach said.

The Ringer's report didn't discredit Luka Doncic's greatness, as former NBA coach Stan Van Gundy described him as a generational talent. However, it puts into question how much effort Doncic put into wanting to win rather than challenge himself as an individual player.

An NBA executive also reckons "Luka Magic" prefers to give a show and a performance rather than take over and grab the win. There's the belief that the game is too easy for him and that he challenges himself at times against opposing teams depending on the situation.

Eventually, the report pointed out that Doncic will be compared with fellow high-usage players like LeBron James, James Harden and Russell Westbrook. It will likely come down to postseason success and how many titles Doncic could win.

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Luka Doncic struggling to shoot the ball in this year's playoffs

The Dallas Mavericks have a tough task ahead against the OKC Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals. The Mavericks are down 1-0 and should look into stealing homecourt advantage for Game 2.

Dallas made things interesting in the first half before falling apart in the final two quarters of Game 1. Luka Doncic remains the most important player for the Mavs, but he's been struggling with his shot since the start of the playoffs against the LA Clippers.

Doncic is averaging 28.3 points, 8.4 rebounds, 9.4 assists and 1.1 steals this postseason. However, he's also shooting 39.5% from the field, including 22.7% from beyond the arc. He's at a career-high 78.9% from the free throw line, which is one of the things going for him.

The good news for the Mavs is they have Kyrie Irving ready to provide backup and explosion if Luka Doncic remains cold. "Luka Magic" is certainly being affected by a knee injury he suffered in the first round, but it's all about winning at this point of the playoffs.