Luka Dončić is a white basketball player leading the league in scoring, playing for the Los Angeles Lakers with LeBron James as a backup singer. Life doesn’t get much better. In addition, talking heads such as Stephen A. Smith and even legends Magic Johnson and James Worthy are singing Luka’s praises and comparing him to highly-accomplished Lakers icons.
Luka Doncic is the most unguardable player in the NBA!🤯 He scored a season high 60 points in tonight’s win against the Miami Heat. Luka has to be one of the top 2 or 3 players being considered in the MVP race.
LeBron James is also playing out of his mind! He recorded a 19…
“I want you to just close your eyes and understand we are talking about the Lakers,” Smith said on Friday’s episode of “First Take.”
Luka Gets High Praise For Recent Eight-Game Scoring Explosion
Smith continued:
“With Luka’s 40.9 points and 7.4 assists per game in this eight-game winning streak no other Laker has ever matched that in an 8-game span in a single season in franchise history…With every statistical thing that matters in basketball annals, there’s a Laker associated with it.”
When the Lakers aren’t good, analysts across the sports world dig deep to find something positive to say. Now that they are gelling and LeBron is getting his usual second wind late in the season and Luka is scoring by the boatloads, the elevation of Luka as a face of the NBA continues. Talk of a Lakers championship will fill the airwaves until reality sets in.
Dončić Still Hunting NBA Title After 2024 Finals Loss With Dallas Mavericks
The problem with all of the excitement is that you can compare any statistic that Luka gets against any Lakers legend you want, but he’s going to fall miserably short in the ring count. In fact, he has none. A trip to the NBA finals with Kyrie Irving in 2024 was a start, even though the Boston Celtics washed the floor with them (4-1) in that series and Dončić’s performance wasn’t anything to write home about.
To be fair. Luka was productive that series averaging 29.6 points, 8.8 rebounds, 5.6 assists and even 2.6 steals. But the impact of his numbers wasn’t felt as the Celtics rained threes and had their way with the Mavs.
Meanwhile, the legend of Luka continues to grow as people celebrate his offensive mastery and accept the fact that he is a liability on the defensive end. As long as the Lakers are winning, the narrative will be that Luka’s defense has improved enough for them to contend.
Fans React To Talk Of Dončić Achieving Legendary Lakers Status With No Hardware
Most fans want to see more before they start anointing the Slovenian court killer.
“But Lakers legends win rings, so we GOT to see that don’t change the goal posts throwing numbers at me,” one fan said on X.
But Lakers legends win rings so we GOT to see that dont change the goal posts throwing numbers at me
“Can we stop this?” another fan begged. “Luka is playing great but it’s not going to be enough in the playoffs. Having to trust Deandre ain’t on to play hard every night in the playoffs is like thinking your girl will stop being a hoe after marriage.”
“Lebron was doing this on a nightly basis in 2018-2020,” one netizen reminded.
“But win a championship. Y’all got to stop praising guys for scoring in this weak era. Maxey with no bag averages 30. Winning no longer matters, just scoring,” added another.
As far as the MVP talk is concerned, Luka apparently still has some work to do.
“Luka is not close to being the MVP. He has had a great month, but he’s still the worst defensive player in the history of the league. We all saw it. SGA and Jalen Brown have been playing MVP offense and defense for the whole year. One of them is MVP,” quipped one netizen.
“I’ve seen other Lakers achieve 5 rings; Luka will retire with ZERO rings.. but yeah, he can score. Melo scored, Reggie scored AI scored… bet they rather have a ring,” one fan commented on X.
Not Everyone Is On Luka Bandwagon: Former NBA Players Push Back On MVP Talk
While Luka continues to amaze with his scoring output during this recent Lakers win streak; his most recent performance was a 60-piece in Thursday night’s 134-126 win over the Miami Heat. Still, that performance isn’t enough to garner him MVP support from former players talking on podcasts.
DeMarcus Cousins, Kendrick Perkins, and Lou Williams were among the many who had doubted Dončić’s status as a frontrunner in the MVP race. After Luka’s latest performance, Kendrick Perkins is flip-flopping as he’s known to do, tweeting out:
“The Lakers got into Miami at 4 am this morning, and Luka decides to drop a 60-piece all flats??? I’m going to have to drop somebody, but he’s definitely got me rethinking who’s going to be my five players for first team All-NBA. God bless America.”
Luka Is No Kobe Bryant
While Lakers fans of all generations appreciate Luka’s prowess, they warn that we all should slow down on the hyperbole as Luka hasn’t secured true legendary status.
“HE EVER SEE KOBE BRYANT Luka is the best laker since KOBE,” said one fan.
“Kobe’s famous 40-point streak in February 2003 actually lasted 9 games which he averaged 44.0 points. During this stretch, he led the Lakers to a 7-2 record, scoring 40+ points while shooting efficiently and playing high-level defense (2.6 steals per game…you keep disrespecting,” added another fan, who felt Smith’s Luka praise was disrespectful to Kobe.
James Worthy on Luka Doncic:
“Historically The Lakers have had clutch players. Kareem with the sky hook. Magic with his play. Kobe, Shaq. But I don’t think we’ve ever had one as consistent and dominant as Luka Doncic”
Luka Can Score & Score, But He Has To Win To Be Iconic Laker
“Ring Culture” as they call the pursuit of greatness these days, will not avoid Dončić who is already being spoken about on the level of icons with multiple championships and NBA finals runs. His own teammate has four rings and 10 Finals appearances. So, Luka shouldn’t rest on his laurels. If he wants true respect as an icon, he needs to win at least two or three rings.
