Pippen compares Travers to NBA legend

In many ways, new Melbourne United star Luke Travers was the story on the NBL’s season opening Throwdown on Thursday evening.

The 22-year-old finished with a game-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds, two assists, a steal and a block.

Playing in front of an icon of the game, six-time NBA Champion Scottie Pippen, Travers displayed an amazing ability to impact the contest all over the court.

While many have compared LT’s game to that of the Chicago Bulls star, Pippen said the forward reminds him of another all-time NBA great.

“I like his size, I like his ability to be able to handle the ball out in front,” he said.

“He reminds me a lot of a Dirk Nowitzki type of player. Not quite the shooter that Dirk was, but I like his ability to be able to play out on top of the floor.”

Teammate Matthew Dellavedova was similarly impressed by Travers. Speaking post-game, Delly touched on how he believes the WA native is only scratching the surface of what he can become.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Dean and Delly spoke to the media after our 15-point win against the Phoenix.<br>Watch the full press conference here ??</p>&mdash; Melbourne United (@MelbUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/MelbUnited/status/1707384296892444760?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 28, 2023</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

"He's already awesome but you can see there's a lot more potential there," he said.

"He was super important for us tonight; scoring the ball, offensive rebounds, he's always getting a block or a steal or a deflection and playing good defence.

"But he's just so versatile and we just want him to continue to be aggressive ... We're really excited to have him."

United fans will next get to see Travers and Dellavedova suit up on Sunday afternoon when they hit the road to face the Adeialde 36ers.

The game will be streamed live and free via 10 Peach and Kayo Freebies.