Doncic had secret preseason workout with Curry
A 19-year-old Luka Doncic already had an impressive professional basketball career under his belt when he entered the NBA draft.
But his agent, Bill Duffy, felt Doncic should train with one of the league's brightest stars before kicking off the 2018-19 regular season. So, Duffy contacted Stephen Curry's longtime trainer, Brandon Payne, and arranged a secret workout for the two in late August that not even Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban knew about.
"I wanted to show him that someone at that level can take instruction, too, be corrected," Duffy told NBC Sports' Tom Haberstroh. "Brandon is up here telling Steph, do this, don't do that, correcting him. I think someone like Luka, was like, 'Woah. Steph is top (two or three) players in basketball and he has someone pushing him to be the best he can be?' To be exposed to that was special."
Payne didn't take it easy on the rookie, running him through every drill Curry would typically do.
"These are really difficult concepts," Payne told Haberstroh. "When you're Stephen, these are difficult concepts. This wasn't a BS workout. This was a real I-have-something-that-I-have-to-get-done-with-Stephen workout. To be thrown into that and respond as well as he did, it was impressive."
Before Luka Doncic became a national sensation, the 19-year-old visited Stephen Curry for a long workout back in August. Exclusive video @NBCSports: pic.twitter.com/8uw67c1Esm
— Tom Haberstroh (@tomhaberstroh) January 24, 2019
The scheduled one-hour session turned into three-plus, as Doncic wanted to do more. Payne is still raving about the Slovenian's enthusiasm and basketball IQ months after their initial encounter.
"He's got a step-back, but you're not looking at how he's slowing them down before that step-back," Payne said. "You fall asleep, your feet die, and then all of a sudden, he hits you with this real hard step-back. It's so easy for him because he's big and strong. His mechanics are really good, too."
"I have never seen anybody control the defender with change of pace the way he does. He takes control of you. You don't control him. He controls you. He just has a touch and feel that you can't teach."
Doncic is averaging 19.9 points, 6.8 boards, and 5.3 assists through 46 games played.