Luka Doncic has been carrying the Los Angeles Lakers’ offense on his back this season, bending defenses and driving the team through entire possessions. Yet somehow, that hasn’t been enough to quiet the conversation around his lack of defensive impact. However, after tonight’s game against the New Orleans Pelicans, one teammate came to his defense.

“If we had to show one prime example to be [Doncic and Dalton Knecht],” veteran guard Marcus Smart told a reporter when asked about the team exemplifying defensive effort. “We asked a lot of Luka on that offensive end, and obviously, we’re demanding a lot of them defensively… To see him giving that effort, it only energizes everybody else.”

This wasn’t a throwaway compliment, but at admission that clearly means a lot. In just tonight’s game, Doncic and Knecht both took charges, which Smart highlighted as them “sacrificing” their body for the win, and it’s definitely something that Doncic’s detractors have wished to see from him throughout his career.

The charge was a tone-setting play for the Lakers‘ locker room, even if the it didn’t show up in highlight reels. This is an especially important thing for the Lakers, who have struggled with defense this year. Despite having the seventh-highest offensive rating in the league, the Lakers rank bottom-seven in defensive rating, and are only the second team in the bottom seven which is a top-six seed in their conference.

The only other top-six seeded team is the Denver Nuggets, who have the best offensive rating in the league, at a whopping 124.4, almost two points better than the next highest team. This defense is why LA has struggled lately, and the numbers show it. Their net rating sits exactly at zero, which means that on average, they are letting up the same number of points that they end up scoring.

Rich Paul Tries to Reset the Conversation Around Luka Doncic and his Defense

The noise around Luka Doncic has only grown louder since his move to the Lakers in February 2025, and with his critics only growing louder, LeBron James’ inner circle is stepping in to reframe the discussion. Rich Paul, CEO of Klutch Sports and long-time agent for James, addressed the growing narrative around Doncic’s defense on the Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman, telling him:

“I do not want to be too harsh on Luka because I do think Luka will play defense… But again, during the regular season, guys, if we really broke down everybody’s film in terms of the star players… very few of them going to score 30 every night and play defense.”

It was a reminder that Doncic, as a high-usage star carrying the team’s offense, doesn’t have enough leftover energy to commit as hard on defense, even if they might have been known as defensive players before breaking out.

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Take an example from this season: Atlanta Hawks forward Jalen Johnson. He’s emerged as one of the most effective offensive engines in the league after Trae Young missed time, averaging 23.7 points, 10.4 rebounds, and 8.4 assists on solid efficiency as the focal points of the Hawks offense. However, fans who watch the game might have realized that he has taken a significant step back on defense compared to the last few years.

Doncic is in an unwinnable battle, but it’s clear that he’s still trying his best to buy in and keep the team afloat, however they need him to.