“I’AM LEAVING” NBA Guard Luka Dončić has announced that he is leaving the Dallas Mavericks due to…..

With star guard Luka Doncic in sparkling form, the Mavericks qualified for the NBA’s championship series by ousting the Timberwolves in the Conference Finals, Thursday’s 124-103 win over Minnesota sealing a 4-1 triumph in the teams’ best-of-seven series.

Doncic racked up 30 points, 10 rebounds and five assists in Game 5; that took his series average to 32.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 8.2 assists, a tally that led the Slovenian to be named Western Conference Finals MVP.

The Mavericks’ two previous appearances in the NBA Finals have both seen the Texans take on the Miami Heat, and have yielded one championship ring.

Dallas’ sole Larry O’Brien Trophy so far came in their most recent Finals, in 2011.

Led by Finals MVP Dirk Nowitzki, who averaged 26 points, 9.6 rebounds and two assists, Rick Carlisle’s team twice came from behind in the series, clinching a 4-2 triumph with back-to-back-to-back wins in Games 4, 5 and 6.

Victory was sealed with a 105-95 win in front of their home fans.

At the time, Germany’s Nowitzki was only the second European ever to have received the Finals’ MVP award, after France’s Tony Parker in 2007.

Nowitzki and Parker have since been emulated by Greece’s Giannis Antetokounmpo (2021) and Serbia’s Nikola Jokic (2023).

In the Mavericks’ only other NBA Finals appearance, the series was also settled in six games – but went the way of the Heat, despite Dallas winning Games 1 and 2.

Spearheaded by Finals MVP Dwyane Wade, Miami fought back with four victories on the spin to secure the first of their three NBA titles.