SANTA MONICA, Calif. _ To no one's surprise, but to the joy of the Mavericks and their fans nonetheless, Luka Doncic on Monday night received the Eddie Gottlieb Trophy as the NBA Rookie of the Year.
Doncic, 20, received the trophy, named after the former Philadelphia Warriors' head coach, during Monday night's NBA Awards show at the Barker Hangar.
Doncic joins Jason Kidd as the only Mavericks to win Rookie of the Year. Kidd shared the honor with Detroit's Grant Hill for the 1994-95 season.
Monday night's Rookie of the Year result, determined by media voters around the NBA, was widely expected despite a late-season surge by Atlanta point guard Trae Young, the player for whom Doncic was traded on draft night last June.
Doncic averaged 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists last season for the 33-49 Mavericks, compared to Young's averages of 19.1 points, 8.1 assists and 3.7 rebounds for the 29-53 Hawks.
Slovenia native Doncic joins Spain's Paul Gasol (2002) as the only Rookie of the Year winners who didn't play high school or college basketball in the United States.
Rookie of the Year winners Patrick Ewing (Jamaica), Kyrie Irving (Australia), Ben Simmons (Australia) and Andrew Wiggins (Canada) also were born outside the U.S., but played high school and/or college basketball here.
Last season, the 6-foot-7 Doncic:
_Joined 1961 Rookie of the Year winner Oscar Robertson as the only rookies in NBA history to average at least 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists per game.
_Posted eight triple-doubles, the third-most by a rookie behind Robertson's 26 and Ben Simmons' 12. Doncic also broke Magic Johnson's record for the most triple-doubles (seven) by a player before his 21st birthday.
_Registered four triple-doubles before his 20th birthday on Feb. 28 to account for four-fifths of all NBA triple-doubles by a teenager. The other was by Markelle Fultz.
Doncic becomes the first Mavericks winner of a major NBA award since Dirk Nowitzki was named NBA finals MVP in 2011.
