The Los Angeles Lakers are a franchise built on some of the best players to ever step foot on an NBA court. Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, LeBron James, Elgin Baylor, Shaquille O’Neal and many other all-time greats have worn the purple and gold. And Luka Doncic is already putting his name alongside those legends.
Doncic put on yet another unbelievable performance, dropping 60 points to lead the Lakers to their eighth consecutive win over the Miami Heat. Of the 60, 20 came in the fourth quarter as Luka hit clutch shot after clutch shot. Afterwards, Lakers legend and Spectrum SportsNet analyst James Worthy made it clear that he feels Doncic is unlike any other superstar the Lakers have had.
“Historically, the Lakers have had clutch players,” Worthy said after the game on Spectrum SportsNet. “Kareem with the sky hook. Magic with his play. Kobe, Shaq. Fish hitting 0.4. But I don’t think we’ve ever seen one as consistent and as dominant as Luka Doncic. The way he controls the game with the ball in his hand and a shot maker. Like he’s a shot maker from anywhere and he’s really good at drawing fouls too. So just a solid performance by the team, but Luka starting in the second quarter and what he was able to produce and get this team going. Also LeBron didn’t really miss too many shots tonight either.”
Doncic shot 5-of-6 from the field and 8-of-10 from the free throw line in the fourth to lead the Lakers to the win just one night after he scored 10 in the fourth to clinch a win over the Houston Rockets. Then, of course, there was the overtime game-winner just one week ago to take down the Denver Nuggets.
Whether or not Luka is the best clutch player the Lakers have ever had is up for debate, especially when thinking about all of the ridiculous clutch moments someone like Kobe provided throughout his 20-year career. But Worthy is as qualified as anyone to make that assessment and, at the very least, Doncic has earned his place in the discussion.
Luka Doncic breaks Lakers’ single-season record for 3-pointers made
In addition to being dominant and leading the Lakers to their eighth consecutive win, Doncic also made franchise history in the victory. Luka made nine 3-pointers in the contest and in the process broke D’Angelo Russell’s franchise record for most 3-pointers made in a single season, which now sits at 232 and counting.
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