The Los Angeles Lakers have had no shortage of legends who delivered when it mattered most. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Magic Johnson. Shaquille O’Neal. Kobe Bryant.
And yet, after Luka Dončić put together one of the most breathtaking performances in recent Lakers memory on Thursday night, Hall of Famer James Worthy went somewhere nobody expected him to go.
James Worthy’s Bold Claim After Luka Dončić’s 60-Point Masterpiece
Dončić dropped 60 points in a 134-126 comeback win over the Miami Heat. This was the Lakers’ 8th straight victory, with Dončić finishing 18-of-30 from the field, 9-of-17 from 3-point range, and 15-of-19 from the line, adding 7 rebounds and 5 steals.
He was at his most devastating in the fourth quarter, scoring 20 of his points in the final frame to shut the door on any Heat comeback. It was the kind of performance that leaves broadcasters searching for words, and Worthy, speaking postgame on Spectrum SportsNet, found his without hesitation.
“Historically, the Lakers have had clutch players,” Worthy said. “Kareem with the sky hook. Magic with his play. Kobe, Shaq. But I don’t think we’ve ever had one as consistent and dominant as Luka Dončić. The way he controls the game with the ball in his hand, and he’s a shot maker. He’s a shot maker from anywhere. He’s really good at drawing fouls too.”
Coming from a man who won 3 championships alongside those very players, the statement carries genuine weight. Worthy isn’t a casual observer throwing out hot takes. He lived through the Showtime era, watched Kobe deliver some of the most iconic clutch moments in NBA history, and has seen firsthand what Shaq and Kareem brought to that franchise in big moments.
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For him to place Dončić above all of them in that specific category is as bold a proclamation as any Laker legend could make.
Dončić’s fourth quarter on Thursday was the latest example in a stretch of closing performances that have become almost routine.
After the Lakers erased an early 15-point deficit, Dončić and LeBron James controlled the offense down the stretch. James, for his part, finished with a 19-point, 15-rebound, 10-assist triple-double, and did so in his 1,611th career appearance, tying Robert Parish’s all-time record for games played.
James was candid about what he witnessed from his teammate. “It wasn’t even like he was trying to force his way to get it,” James said. “I mean, everything came in the flow. Once he got hot in that third (quarter), obviously he had a red hand and he just kept it going and then made some big time plays for us in the fourth. Big time, big time, big time.”
Dončić himself acknowledged the MVP chants from the Kaseya Center crowd at the free-throw line late in the game, a moment he clearly savored. “I think every player wants to hear it,” he said. “I got a lot of goosebumps, so it was pretty special.”
The broader context only reinforces Worthy’s claim. Over the Lakers’ 8-game winning streak, Dončić is averaging 40.9 points, 8.9 rebounds, and 7.4 assists.
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Thursday’s performance also saw him break the Lakers’ single-season 3-point record, surpassing D’Angelo Russell’s previous mark of 226 set in the 2023-24 season. It came on the second night of a back-to-back, after the team had not checked into their Miami hotel until 5:10 a.m. that morning following the previous night’s win in Houston.
Coach JJ Redick called it “a superhero performance,” and given everything surrounding it, it is hard to argue otherwise. Los Angeles now sits at 45-25, 3rd in the West with a 2-game cushion over Minnesota.
