Lakers' Luka Doncic Off to Historic Start This Year

Nov 23, 2025; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) reacts to a shot against the Utah Jazz during the second half at Delta Center. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images | Rob Gray-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers are enjoying the return of star forward LeBron James, but it is guard Luka Doncic whose stellar play has helped the Lakers jump to a 12-4 start this season.

Doncic, who missed three games this season with a left finger sprain and lower left leg contusion, is averaging 34.5 points, 8.8 rebounds and 8.9 assists per game despite making a career-low 31.1 percent of his three-point attempts.

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Doncic is playing his way into becoming a serious contender for his first league Most Valuable Player award, sitting below just Oklahoma City Thunder guard Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Denver Nuggets big man Nikola Jokic, the last two MVP honorees, with the shortest odds to win the award.

The eight-year veteran is playmaking at unprecedented level, with 414 points and 107 assists through his first 12 games. According to the NBA, Doncic is the first player in league history to have over 400 points and over 100 assists through 12 games.

Luka Dončić in 12 games played this season:

414 PTS | 107 AST

He's the FIRST PLAYER IN NBA HISTORY to have 400+ PTS and 100+ AST through 12 games 🤯 https://t.co/2DtiEFkRJv pic.twitter.com/7GjodXCyG1

— NBA (@NBA) November 24, 2025

Despite the otherworldly numbers he's been putting up, Doncic has reason to think that himself and the Lakers have yet to reach their ceiling. Because both Doncic and Reaves have struggled from deep compared to their career averages, Doncic hopes that their numbers will even out over the course of the season.

“Obviously, I think me and AR haven't hit a shot this season," Doncic sarcastically told the Los Angeles Times, "so I'm not worried at all. Once we start making [shots], it's gonna be really tough to guard.”

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Doncic, who has reached the NBA Finals just once in his career, is eager to follow the footsteps of the Lakers greats before him and bring an NBA championship back to Los Angeles.

'A Little Kid in Slovenia'

“Kobe brought so many championships here. LeBron brought a championship here,” Doncic said in an interview with Snoop Dogg. “I want to be the next one to do that for sure. I met Kobe, I’m playing with LeBron, just as a little kid in Slovenia, I just wanted to play basketball. Just wanted to touch the NBA. And now I’m playing with the best.”

If Doncic can continue his scoring pace, his name will continue to be associated with Lakers' greats such as Bryant. Bryant currently holds the franchise record for the most points in a single season with 2,832, and Doncic is currently on pace to contend for that record.

For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.