The Los Angeles Lakers belong to Luka Doncic. That has been the messaging ever since the blockbuster deal that sent him to L.A. in February of 2025. It’s especially been the sentiment from superstar LeBron James, who — for the first time in his career — is not the best player on his own team.
Saturday’s win over the Denver Nuggets, though, was a near-perfect example of how important LeBron is for the Lakers without being the primary, or even secondary, scoring option. LeBron had 17 points on 7-of-13 shooting with six rebounds and five assists in 40 minutes. He was a plus-six and had maybe the best hustle play of the game, diving for a loose ball late in the fourth quarter.
Luka, meanwhile, had 30 points, 11 rebounds and 13 assists, including the game-winning bucket in overtime to give L.A. its fifth consecutive victory. James, once again, used the moment to credit Luka and make it known that this is his team, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“Just a big-time shot by a f—ing generational player,” James said. “He’s just a big-time player, man. … We wanted the last shot. We wanted to put the ball in our guy’s hands.”
James went on to say that he sees many more of these types of moments in Luka’s purple and gold future.
“… It’s going to be just the first of many game winners like that for him in a Lakers uniform.”
The Lakers are at their best when Luka and Austin Reaves are leading the offense this season, that can’t be denied. Where that leaves LeBron is to score when it makes sense in the flow of the offense, but to focus on defending, hustle plays and being a leader.
It means that LeBron’s big moment is diving for the loose ball, while Luka gets the glory of the game-winning shot. However, LeBron has frequently said he’ll do what is needed of him for the Lakers to win games, and that is exactly what went down on Saturday night against the Nuggets.
Luka Doncic: atmosphere of Lakers-Nuggets was best since joining team
Multiple players spoke about the playoff-like atmosphere of Saturday’s win over the Nuggets. Luka took it a step further, saying that it’s likely the best environment he’s been a part of since joining L.A. Just like the game-winners, here’s hoping that there’s plenty more of that in the future.
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