
The Wonder Boy
Luka Doncic and the Curse of Greatness
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Narrated by:
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Tim MacMahon
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Charles Constant
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By:
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Tim MacMahon
About this listen
ESPN’s Tim MacMahon goes behind the scenes of Luka Dončić’s years with the Dallas Mavericks—before his trade to the Lakers stunned the basketball world—telling the story of a franchise’s quest to build a championship team around a prodigy.
In 2018, the Dallas Mavericks landed the most hyped European teen prospect in basketball history—Luka Doncic, who has proven to be a generational NBA talent with a flair for sensational playmaking. But that’s only half the story. With The Wonder Boy, MacMahon takes us beyond the highlights to the madness that ensues as the Mavericks try to avoid blowing their golden opportunity.
From the internal power struggles in owner Mark Cuban’s front office during the early years of Doncic’s career, to the new regime’s effort to earn Doncic’s loyalty and put the ruthless competitor in position to win, readers will learn never-before-reported details about the saga’s biggest moments, including:
- the blockbuster deal for Kristaps Porzingis that blew up in the Mavs’ faces
- the divorces with coach Rick Carlisle and GM Donnie Nelson
- Jalen Brunson’s exit after a run to the Western Conference finals
- the new pairing with the mercurial Kyrie Irving
- the improbable journey to the 2024 Finals
As the clock ticks on the Mavs’ quest to win it all with their irreplaceable young star, The Wonder Boy pulls back the curtain on a dilemma every NBA team would love to have.
©2024 Tim MacMahon (P)2024 TwelveCritic reviews
"From Doncic's childhood through the Mavericks run to the 2024 NBA Finals, MacMahon unearths fascinating new details about Doncic's unlikely path to Dallas and the challenges of building around a generational superstar. This is a true insider account—a must-have for any basketball fan."—Zach Lowe, NBA analyst and host of the “Lowe Post” podcast
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Disappointing
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Love Tim McMahon, but much prefer his work on Hoop Collective
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No discussion of the trade to the Lakers, which was all I wanted to hear about
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Exceptional attention to detail both on and off the court.
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Nothing new + last chapter missing
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Insightful and Engaging
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DOESN'T INCLUDE TRADE
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All that said, this narrator is offensive. Why didn’t MacMahon narrate this himself? Here are some mispronunciations over the first few chapters:
-Celtics with a hard C
-Rudy Gobert that rhymes with Dilbert
-Deron Williams like this narrator assumes black names have to be pronounced with extra emphasis
-I don’t know how the f to describe what he does with Haralabos Voulgaris
I can’t listen to this garbage anymore. But to support MacMahon, Im going to buy a hardcopy because I very much appreciate the work
Please pick better narrators
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Poorly done.
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Fascinating subject, bad book
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