As the fourth quarter of Wednesday night's Mavericks home opener was winding down, I couldn't help but think "Welp, put those Luka Dončić MVP talks on hold for a little while because to be MVP, you need to win."
And you probably need to score more than 12 points on 4-of-10 shooting, too.
But fortunately, I had to stick around at American Airlines Center for a little while last night because when I did, I saw this.
Luka came back out on the floor, just a few minutes after the game ended.
And he stayed there.
Shot after shot after shot. Crossover, pull up three, all net. Re-rack with another ball, cross-over, pull-up three, all net. Re-rack and do it again.
Sure, he missed some shots too.
But it just drove home the point, Luka Dončić is destined for a special kind of greatness.
He's one of the best three or four players in the entire league right now.
Luka easily could've chalked it up to an off-night. One of 72 games this year and come back tomorrow like it was no big deal.
Instead, a 45-minute grind session, still shooting after everyone else had showered and gone home.
You want to be great? Don't whine. Work.
And as for MVP, now I'm thinking you should double down on No. 77.
I'm Mike Leslie. Have a great Thursday and Happy New Year.