Welcome to "Summer Workout Plan," our annual offseason series in which we dive into a specific area for improvement for certain players to take the next step in their development.
Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic is the next player to take the spotlight.
We're about to find out what happens when one of the toughest covers in the NBA adds an unguardable shot to their bag.
Well, we might be.
Ahead of the 2022-23 NBA season, Mavericks owner Mark Cuban revealed in an interview that Luka Doncic is working on an "insane" shot. He didn't mention what the shot actually is because he didn't want to jinx it — his words, not mine — but Cuban did say we'll know what it is if we see Doncic do something and ask ourselves, "Where the hell did that come from?"
With that in mind, I present to you not one...
IF HE PERFECTS THIS SHOT... 🤯@luka7doncic x @kzs_si x @dallasmavs pic.twitter.com/1Vwt0ErBwE
— FIBA (@FIBA) July 4, 2022
...but two skyhooks from a couple of Slovenia's friendlies this summer that would make NBA legend Kareem Abdul-Jabbar proud.
Luka Doncic against Nikola Jokic and Serbia 🔥
— FIBA (@FIBA) August 17, 2022
34 PTS
9 AST
6 REB
11/20 FG
Slovenia win in OT! 👀 pic.twitter.com/Q7NvXqupNj
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Pretty freaking stupendous, right?
Abdul-Jabbar, of course, made the skyhook Doncic appears to be working on famous. It played a leading role in him becoming the NBA's all-time leading scorer and is widely considered to be one of the best moves ever — ESPN once called it the "deadliest shot the NBA has ever seen" — and yet even with it being practically unguardable, it's not something that's been passed down from generation to generation.
Why? Ask Abdul-Jabbar, and he'll tell you the current generation is too caught up in shooting 3s. Ask Shaquille O'Neal, whose father made him work on the skyhook when he was a kid, and he'll tell you it's not cool enough. (For what it's worth, Abdul-Jabbar once implied the same.) Ask someone who did actually try to replicate it, and they'll tell you that it's much, much harder than it might look.
"The sky hook is a tough shot,’’ Dirk Nowitzki once said. "Especially if you don’t have any moves, if you don’t come out of the rhythm and just turn around and shoot it.
"That’s why nobody else is shooting it like Kareem. I don’t know how he did it, but that shot is unbelievable.’’
Oscar Robertson is on the same page as Nowitzki. He called it a "ballet-type shot" because of the rhythm and balance it requires, likening it to a pirouette.
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In addition to having A-plus coordination and a silky soft touch, Abdul-Jabbar had the benefit of standing 7-foot-2 and sporting a massive wingspan. That gave him the ability to shoot over basically everyone not named Wilt Chamberlain with ease. (Apparently, Abdul-Jabbar once said the release point on his skyhook was "about 10 feet to 11 feet in the air." Yeah, good luck blocking that.)
Doncic isn't nearly as tall or long as Abdul-Jabbar, but at 6-foot-7 and 230 pounds, he still has a size advantage over most players who match up with him. Not only that, but he's capable of doing things with a basketball that most players can only dream of.
You know, like drive to the basket, absorb contact and casually drape a hook shot over a taller defender.
Doncic is already a punishing scorer in the paint. In 2020-21, he proved to be one of the best finishers in the NBA despite him not being the most explosive athlete. He didn't get all the way to the rim as much in 2021-22, but only one player averaged more drives per game, and he did a ton of damage from floater range.
The heat map below should give you a good sense of Doncic's shot diet. If he isn't shooting his signature stepback 3, he is likely working his way to the basket, where he's a threat to score in a variety of ways and set up 3-point shooters with passes that'll make you think he has eyes in the back of his head.
Basically, there should be plenty of opportunities for Doncic to break out his version of Abdul-Jabbar's skyhook if he's actually adding it to his game. It gives him another arrow in the quiver when he's bullying smaller defenders in the post, as well as yet another weapon to bait shot blockers with when he gets downhill out of a pick-and-roll.
Who knows, maybe this will all be a big tease and Abdul-Jabbar's iconic skyhook isn't the "insane" shot Cuban said Doncic is working on, but it sure would be a scary sign for the rest of the NBA if it is.
