James Worthy is a bona fide NBA and Los Angeles Lakers legend, having won three championships with the franchise, including the 1988 Finals MVP. And after playing during the Lakers’ “Showtime Era” with players like Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, you would think Worthy had seen it all in Los Angeles.
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But Luka Doncic is giving him something new to talk about. With Doncic off to a terrific start in his second full season with the Lakers and firmly in the MVP conversation, Worthy explained what separates the 27-year-old from the greatest guards he’s seen.
“We’ve seen some great guards and ball handlers. I mean, Magic, MJ, Kobe. Luka is different,” Worthy said on Spectrum SportsNet after the Lakers’ win over the Sacramento Kings. “He’s really different because he’s not trying to use his power to go through you or go around you. He’s just setting you up for space. And when he gets that little space, that’s all he needs to pull the trigger. So we’ve never seen a guy like this, man.”
While everyone applauds Doncic’s insane scoring prowess, his ability to manipulate pace, decelerate, and create separation from defenders sometimes goes under the radar.
The results speak for themselves. Through eight games, Doncic is averaging 38.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.0 assists, including a 52-point game against the Utah Jazz and 40 points against the Kings in his 100th game as a Laker on Wednesday.
Apart from what he does best, Worthy believes Doncic has also improved defensively. “He’s just unique and still providing assists, still rebounding, and this is the best defensive year I’ve seen him have thus far. I mean, I know it’s a short sample, but so far his defense has been pretty good,” Worthy said.
His start hasn’t just been about offense, either. In Sunday’s 131-125 win over the Toronto Raptors, Doncic scored 45 points with 15 rebounds, all on the defensive end, five steals and three charges drawn, forcing eight Toronto turnovers on his own. According to ESPN Research, he became the first player to record five steals and three drawn charges in the same game since player tracking began in 2013-14.
“Obviously, I’m not the best defender in the NBA, but I think this year, I really took a step forward… Obviously, people are going to talk what they want to talk [about] me. … But I know, and my team knows, that I’m better this year.” Doncic said after the game.
While Doncic is comfortably in the MVP conversation, not everyone believes the MVP will follow, though. Kendrick Perkins, who has gone back and forth on Doncic, picked Victor Wembanyama as his “safe bet.”
“In order to win the MVP, you got to have the numbers… But you got to be one of these top teams. I just think that the Lakers, they are going to be in the middle of the pack. Luka is going to have the numbers, but they’re not going to be a top-three seed in the Western Conference.” Perkins said recently on the Road Trippin’ Show.
Well, Doncic is currently holding his end of the bargain, while the Lakers are second in the Western Conference with a 7-2 record. But with a long regular season ahead, it will be interesting to see whether the Slovenian will finally win MVP honors after multiple close calls.