If the first two games of the Lakers’ season are any indication of what’s to come, the entire NBA is in trouble as the best version of Luka Dončić is being unleashed on the entire league.
After dropping 43 points in the season opener and 49 on Anthony Edwards and the Minnesota Timberwolves, Dončić broke Jerry West’s 56-year franchise record of 81 points scored through the first two games of a season. With Dončić off to the best scoring start to his splendid career, here are 3 reasons why he will have a career year.
Why Luka Dončić Is Poised for His Best Season?
After watching him defer to Lebron after last season’s midseason block buster trade, Dončić has been in full attack mode this season with his foot firmly on the gas. With LeBron James residing in his customized seat at the end of the bench while working to return in November, Dončić is the unquestioned leader and face of the Lakers.
As a result, the five-time first-team All-NBA guard is allowed to be himself and play freely, which allowed him to become the fourth player in NBA history to open the season with back-to-back 40-point games, joining Anthony Davis, Michael Jordan, and Wilt Chamberlain.
Currently, Dončić is averaging 46 points, 11.5 rebounds, and 8 assists to start his first full season in purple and gold, and it’s easy to see why we are watching the foundation of a great season being built by a historical great player.
With a body of work that is already in the top five percent in NBA history on his resume, many people forget he is just 26 and starting to enter his prime.
Is there more to add to Dončić’s historic personal resume?
Yes, an MVP
Thanks to being the focal point of the Lakers’ high-octane offense, along with being in the best shape of his career and having already come close to averaging a triple-double for a season, Dončić is primed and ready to have the best season of his career.
If he’s able to stay healthy and set career highs in points and assists for a season, Dončić will average 34 plus points per game and around 10 assists to go with his 9 or 10 rebounds a game, which is an MVP stat line.
Add because Dončić looks primed and ready to be fully engaged as a defender and not allowing blow-by after blow-by, and it’s easy to see why this could be the best version of Dončić we’ve ever seen so far.
Dončić Is On Mission
After taking the Mavericks to two Western Conference Finals and leading them to the 2024 NBA Finals, Dončić is a proven winner in the NBA. Thanks to being one of the few players to make it to the playoffs in the most difficult season of his young career, Dončić is on a mission to show the world that “Luka Da Don” is fully back and ready to be the best player in the world.
Combine this mentality with the fact he’s playing the best ball of his young historic career, in the best shape of his life, and playing in LA, and we might end up looking at this season as the year Dončić began taking over the NBA.
