ESPN's Kevin Arnovitz reveals why Jeff David siphoned a huge amount of money from the Sacramento Kings

The Dallas Mavericks are flying high in the NBA and a lot of that has to do with the form of 20-year-old Slovenian sensation Luka Doncic.

The youngster is the NBA’s reigning rookie of the year and he is red hot, averaging an absurd 30.6 points per game with 10.1 rebounds and 9.8 assists.

He is the first player since triple-double master Oscar Robertson in 1961-62 to have a 30-10-9 average through the first 16 games of an NBA season.

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He has also helped the Mavericks to 11-5 for the season, exceeding expectations for the franchise, with some declaring the side a surprise title contender.

But life could have been much different if Doncic was taken with the second pick of the 2018 NBA Draft as had been expected, which would have landed him in Sacramento with the Kings.

In hindsight, it’s madness that the Phoenix Suns took Deandre Ayton with the No. 1 pick and the Kings nabbed Marvin Bagley III at No. 2.

Speaking on ESPN reporter Adrian Wojnarowski’s podcast The Woj Pod fellow ESPN reporter Tim MacMahon revealed the Kings passed on Doncic because Sacramento general manager Vlade Divac didn’t like Luka’s dad.

“My understanding is that (Divac) being so close to Luka and knowing his dad so well factored into their decision,” MacMahon said.

“Basically, he didn’t think a whole lot of Luka’s dad, and the whole like father like son … well … no, this is a different dude. You messed that one up, Vlade.”

Whoops.

While the Kings are currently in ninth in the Western Conference with a 7-8 record, a long way behind the top six who are streaking away.

The Kings are also struggling off the court, just a week after it was revealed former Sacramento chief revenue officer Jeff David stole just under $20 million.

Doncic once again showed why he’s the an MVP candidate this year, scoring 41 points as the Mavericks beat the Houston Rockets 137-123.

And despite his incredible start to the year, he’s still staying grounded.

“For me, it’s making the playoffs still,” Doncic said. “It’s a long season. It’s only been one month. We didn’t make the playoffs yet, so we’ve just got to keep going right now.”

The Mavericks has won five straight, scoring at least 137 in the last three.

Houston has lost three straight after winning eight in a row.

NBA STAR’S INSANE WILLPOWER

The NBA is known for is excess and player splashing the cash but the Boston Celtics’ Jayson Tatum isn’t one of them.

After one season at Duke University, Tatum went pick three in the 2017 NBA Draft and signed a $AU44.3 million ($US30.1 million), four year contract.

But as yet, the star hasn’t spent a dime.

This season, Tatum will earn a base salary of $11.5 million ($US7.8 million) — and every penny will go straight to the bank.

“All the money I get from the Celtics, I put it in a savings account,” he told Maverick Carter on an episode of Kneading Dough.

The star isn’t destitute though, living off his endorsement deals with Gatorade, Imo’s Pizza and Honey Dew Donuts.

“When I picked my agent, I told him I want to do as much off-the-court stuff as I can,” Tatum told the Boston Globe. “Right now I’m young, so I try to do everything as much as possible. … Tomorrow is not promised. You’re not promised the next contract. You want to save all the money you can.”

It’s a great mentality and, for a 21-year-old, shows amazing will power, especially when he grew up without money with he and his mum living “cheque to cheque”.

His mum is now his financial and business advisor and said “as I got older and started understanding that the NBA was coming to reality, she started talking to me about the importance of balancing all of this money.”

KNICKS KICKED WHILE THEY’RE DOWN

The New York Knicks are going so bad, social media is already wondering if they’re tanking.

A season after the #tankforZion hashtag fell flat when the Knicks lost the first pick in the NBA draft to the New Orleans Pelicans, the Knicks have once again been torched after a 103-101 loss to the Brooklyn Nets.

The Nets were already without Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant and Caris LeVert and it was just another sad chapter in an already sad season at 4-13 after 17 games and sitting last in the East.

The New York Post’s Marc Berman has already started the tanking chat in earnest.

But the Knicks have copped it again with NBA great Richard Jefferson’s revealing on live TV commentary he didn’t want to play for New York.

The 39-year-old NBA championship winner said he retired from the NBA last year rather than take up a multimillion-dollar contract offer with the Knicks.

The former No. 13 NBA Draft pick played for eight teams, including the New Jersey Nets and Denver Nuggets — but he drew the line at ever having to debase himself with the shame of putting on a Knicks uniform.

“I refused to play for the Knicks,” Jefferson said.

“Jason Kidd and Kenyon Martin (who both made late career moves to the Knicks), they don’t really care.

“Me? I was the one person who said, ‘Knicks? No. I’ll retire’. That’s why I retired. They were the one team that offered me a job and I decided to retire.

“It’s true. I decided to retire rather than play for the Knicks.

“I just knew it was time. When the Knicks were looking at me to play for them, I knew my time playing in the league was over.”

Ouch.