Just when it looked like the Los Angeles Lakers had gone certifiably stale and would be so for a long time, the franchise landed generational superstar Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 1. It was a fortuitous fork in the road for the franchise that has led to it claiming the third seed in the Western Conference this season.
Doncic has taken over as the Lakers’ main decision-maker on the court, and LeBron James has manfully taken somewhat of a back seat to allow that to happen. The Slovenian has had a number of big games and hot streaks, and he has likely given fans flashbacks to the days of the late great Kobe Bryant with his otherworldly shot-making abilities.
Sasha Vujacic, a reserve guard who played six seasons with Bryant, told former NBA player Tony Allen during the “Out the Mud” podcast that he sees some of Bryant in Doncic, who, like him, is originally from Slovenia.
“Marc Stern or somebody called me and they are like ‘What do you think of him?’ … I said, I’ll be honest, I watch him play and he might be the only one that reminds me a little bit more than anyone else of Kobe. The reason being, that he plays with a smile, he understands the geometry on the basketball court very well, and he’s talented. But there is something in his eyes that when he plays the game of basketball is just that killer. That killer thing that he has, he can smell blood like Kobe always said, ‘I can smell blood.’ He is still young but I think he’s got something of my big brother (within him).”
In his six NBA seasons, Doncic has already established the fact that he is deadly in crunch time, just as Bryant was. He has nailed a number of clutch and game-winning shots, and he’s the type of player who always seems to want the basketball when a game is on the line.
Lakers fans love winners who take charge in big situations, and they will only continue to fall in love with Doncic, especially if he takes the team on a long playoff run over the next several weeks.