SANTA MONICA, Calif. _ It's been six weeks since Luka Doncic's statistically historic first NBA season ended. It's been four months since an online bookmaker went ahead and paid bettors who had wagered on Doncic to win Rookie of the Year.
All indications are that Mavericks phenom Doncic finally, formally will be handed the ROY trophy during Monday night's NBA Awards Show, yet owner Mark Cuban says his recent text exchanges with Doncic have been tinged with apprehension.
"I'm kind of nervous," Cuban said. "Luka is a little bit nervous, too."
If a sliver of doubt exists, and, frankly, I don't see one, it's due to the late-season surge of Hawks point guard Trae Young and the occasionally fickle nature of media balloting.
"We'll see," Doncic said, when asked at season's end whether he expects to join Jason Kidd (1995) as the only Mavericks to win ROY. "I'll tell you when they say who it is."
Monday's extravaganza in the Barker Hangar, broadcast by TNT and hosted by Shaquille O'Neal, is the third straight year the league has waited until after the NBA Finals to announce its major award winners, all in one night.
While there is uncertainty about who will win awards like Most Valuable Player and Coach of the Year, any objective analysis between Doncic's 21.2-point, 7.8-rebound, 6.0 assist per-game season and Young's 19.1-point, 8.1-assist, 3.7-rebound output clearly favors 6-foot-7 Doncic.
This will be the 67th time the NBA's Rookie of the Year has been bestowed. In many other seasons Oklahoma-product Young's production would have propelled him to the award, but not this one.
Three Rookie of the Year awards have been shared _ Dave Cowens-Geoff Petrie (1970), Kidd-Grant Hill ('95) and Steve Francis-Elton Brand (2000) _ but all projections are that Doncic will be a solo winner, making him the 70th recipient in the award's history.
How historic was Slovenia-native Doncic's season for the 33-49 Mavericks? A few cases in point:
_He joined 1961 ROY winner Oscar Robertson as the only rookies in NBA history to average at least 20 points, 7 rebounds and 6 assists per game.
_His eight triple-doubles are 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.
_His four triple-doubles prior to his 20th birthday on Feb. 28 account for four-fifths of all NBA triple-doubles by a teenager. The other was by Markelle Fultz.
Among rookies last season, Doncic ranked first in scoring, second in assists, second in rebounding, fifth in steals _ and first with 120 "clutch time" points, when the score was within five points with five minutes or fewer left in fourth quarters or overtimes.
When, not if, Doncic wins Monday night, he will join Spain's Paul Gasol (2002) as the only winners who didn't play high school or college basketball in the United States.
If Doncic is, in fact, still nervous when he walks the red carpet, those jitters soon enough will be replaced by his familiar, infectious smile when a national TV audience and Hangar full of his peers and celebrities sees him take the stage to receive his just reward.
And if his first NBA season was any indication, there are many more to come.
