Los Angeles Lakers superstar Luka Doncic had a ton of memorable performances last season on his way to winning the NBA scoring title. But without a doubt one of his best came against the Chicago Bulls and it was all thanks to their young, guard Matas Buzelis.
Buzelis began trash-talking Doncic during the game and the superstar responded by dropping 51 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists and three steals while letting the Bulls wing have it throughout the night. And Buzelis recently spoke about what happened in that contest.
“In Chicago, that’s like nothing. That’s all day, you guys talk shit, but that’s just how I was raised up to play basketball,” Buzelis said on the Cousins podcast with Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady. “He wasn’t really on anything that game at first. I don’t really wanna get into detail because it was some really nasty things said. But he just started baking me, like bad. Like 12 in a row bad. And I was like, ‘I don’t care, keep doing that. I don’t care what you’re doing, keep scoring we’ll see if you can keep scoring.’ At half, I have 20 at half, he has 22 at half, so I’m chilling. So I end with like 23, he ends with like 50.
“He hit this one shot, and I’m not even trying to glaze or anything. But he shot it, he was isoing and he does that step-back, shot it, in mid-air he likes points directly down at me, I’m in the corner and he turns around mid-shot and it just straight back rim. I was like, ‘Oh God that’s not good.’ They beat us by like 20.”
Doncic is simply one of those players that gets extra motivated when someone is talking too much. Micheal Jordan and Kobe Bryant were legendary for embarrassing players who do that, and Doncic is built from that same cloth. But if you thought Buzelis learned his lesson from that experience, think again.
“But in the media I was saying I’m probably not gonna trash talk again to him, but I really don’t care. I’m gonna do it again… Whenever you talk to him he starts turning up for real. But in the media I said I wasn’t gonna do it again, but I’m definitely gonna do it again. I was giving a political answer. But I don’t really care, I need my get-back, so I’ll see him this year.
“But he was also in the press conference and he was like, ‘Someone started talking to me, that’s why I went off.’ And they asked him who and he looked at the stat sheet like [stares and squints eyes] Matas. Like he didn’t know who I was. I was like alright, bro. I have mad respect for him, like he’s a great player. But in the court, I don’t really care who I’m playing against.”
You have to admire the mindset and attitude of Buzelis. He admits that Doncic destroyed him in that game, but trash-talking is simply a part of who he is on the court and he isn’t gonna stop, even against someone like Doncic. At the very least, this certainly makes Lakers-Bulls meetings this season much more anticipated.
Lakers tied for most national TV games in the NBA
There’s at least a decent chance that this contest could take place on national TV as the Lakers are tied for the most national TV appearances for the 2026-27 season with 34.
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