Luka Doncic has spent years turning stepbacks into highlights. Now one of the biggest music stars on the planet has turned that same move into a global anthem.

With the Super Bowl days away, the Lakers superstar suddenly has more than just football on his mind. Bad Bunny, Doncic’s longtime friend and collaborator, is headlining the Halftime Show, and fans are already wondering whether the Puerto Rican icon will break out “La Jumpa,” the viral track that famously shouts out Luka’s signature move: “Luka, stepback, la jumpa!”

The best time to ask was after the Lakers blew out the Wizards, 142-111. Doncic came back from that injury scare against the Cavs to drop 37 points tonight. Riding high on this dominant performance, a reporter seized the moment to ask him in Spanish, “Bad Bunny is going to perform at halftime. I believe he’s your friend, what do you think about a Latino performing for the Halftime show?”

Doncic, with all his fluency, he learnt spending his teens with Real Madrid, responded with excitement. His words can be translated as follows. “I think it’s really good. I’m really looking forward to seeing him mainly because it’s him. I listen to him a lot so I can’t wait to see him.”

With the Super Bowl just around the corner, the Lakers host the Golden State Warriors on February 8, right before the Patriots and Seahawks face off. They will probably have time for a watch party even if Doncic can’t reasonably attend the game.

But it was Doncic’s on-court dominance that truly stole the headlines. He delivered a historic performance, recording the first triple-double in Lakers history in a single half with 26 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds before halftime. It was the second first-half triple-double of his career, the previous one coming with the Mavericks in 2023.

The record-breaking didn’t stop there. Doncic also set another record, registering the fastest 30-point triple-double in NBA history by reaching the mark in under 25 minutes. He finished the night with 37 points, 13 assists, 11 rebounds, and 3 steals in just 31 minutes of action.

Perhaps most impressively, he produced 16+ points, 7+ rebounds, and 7+ assists in the first quarter alone, the first player to do so in the play-by-play era dating back to 1997–98. The performance marked his sixth triple-double of the season.

Luka Doncic’s friendship with Bad Bunny is for the books

The connection between Luka Doncic and Bad Bunny is not a distant athlete-artist relationship. As Doncic said today, they go way back. The Latin star’s admiration for the Slovenian became pop culture lore when he referenced him in not one but two songs when Doncic was the cornerstone of the Dallas Mavericks franchise.

The first one came in 2020. The translated lines, “Luka Dončić, there’s no way I’m missing, We stay at two hundred, and we aren’t slowing down,” in “25/8” uses the Mavs’ then generational talent as a benchmark of success through hard work.

He followed it up with “La Jumpa,” which went viral on TikTok. The song iconizes Doncic’s athleticism, especially his signature step-back three. That very three went off the ledge of the infamous elevated court in Cleveland this week.

It nearly sidelined Doncic with a serious ankle injury, but he managed to shake it off and put on another strong performance tonight.

Doncic might have another score to showcase on his Instagram Stories to a Bad Bunny song. Thanks to “La Jumpa,” Luka made it a habit to flex his best stat lines against a Bad Bunny track.

As the Super Bowl approaches, Doncic appears ready to trade his jersey for an epic watch party at the Super Bowl Halftime Show to cheer on his friend’s historic moment.