Saitama (Japan) (AFP)

He is still a long way from winning gold with Slovenia, but after his 48 points against Argentina on Monday in the Olympic basketball tournament, prodigy Luka Doncic is already a superstar at the Tokyo Games where its popularity is exploding.

Already essential on the NBA planet, at only 22 years old, by dint of gratifying fans of the Dallas Mavericks, and more generally of the orange ball, of magician gestures every night, Doncic offered an exceptional recital against the powerless Argentines and beaten (118-100) who saw what a basketball Maradona could look like.

Author also of 11 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 blocks, "Luka Magic" took out of his hat a panoply of sleight of hand: baskets of tightrope walker in penetration, shoots far behind the arc, elusive dribbling, angel smile killer as a bonus for the photo.

He also became the leading scorer in Olympic history in a first period, with 31 units in ... 16 minutes.

A demonstration dedicated in Slovenian flowery words to members of the Argentinian delegation placed in the stands who had had the bad idea to room him and that we did not hear at all afterwards.

In the second half, not without avoiding a technical fault - his little nasty flaw - which also illustrates the extreme motivation that drives him in Tokyo, Doncic added without forcing 17 points in 15 minutes.

- "The best in the world" -

"It's so hard to analyze a loss when a player dominates as much as Luka Doncic did. We had a plan against him, isolating him from the rest of the squad, which he took down immediately and he murdered us by scoring 15 points in three minutes, "Argentina coach Sergio Hernandez admitted afterwards.

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"He forced us to change our strategy, we tried everything, to no avail. I don't remember having experienced this once in my life. I had already said it two years ago, I stand by it. : he is the best player in the world, "he added, as annoyed as he was admiring.

With 48 points scored, Doncic equaled the second best performance in history at the Olympics in this area, since the Australian Eddie Palubinskas had scored as many against Mexico in Montreal in 1976. The record remains the property of the Brazilian Oscar Schmidt, author of 55 units against Spain in Seoul in 1988.

With less than four minutes to play, the "Mozart of basketball" could have challenged it, but he chose not to continue his recital, assuring: "the records do not interest me, only the victory matters to me".

"It shows that he is coming to do something for Slovenia, not for himself. And he is an example for the rest of his team-mates," said his coach Alexsander Sekulic.

- Photo match with "Djoko" -

Certainly.

But the craze around the phenomenon is immense.

Since the advent of the "Dream Team" in Barcelona 1992, with in its ranks Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson, which exploded the popularity of the NBA in the world, the stars from the American championship have almost all gone through the Olympics , from Kobe Bryant to LeBron James, to Dirk Nowitzki.

All these players have aroused the fascination of other sportsmen and women in the various Olympic villages.

This unique moment, Doncic is living it and seems to be enjoying it.

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"I like being a star of the Games, it feels good, if that's what I am of course," he said with a smile, explaining that with his team, they are struggling to get to the canteen "because of the number of people who stop on the way".

"I have a lot of photos taken, yes, but there could be more," joked Doncic, before adding: "the one who is photographed the most is Novak Djokovic", the world No. 1 tennis, next to the building.

"I am coming behind it seems to me, but it suits me very well!", He concluded.

There is no doubt that if Doncic goes to the end of what he aspires to, there may be a match.

© 2021 AFP