Oct 21, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic (77) shoots over Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) during the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images William Liang-Imagn Images

Lakers' Luka Doncic Falls Just Short of Kobe Bryant Record on Opening Night

Originally posted on Los Angeles Lakers on SI
By Nelson Espinal | Last updated Oct 22, 2025 6:40 PM ET

Luka Doncic had an incredible game Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors, narrowly missing a record set by the legendary Kobe Bryant.

Doncic scored 43 points in the Lakers' season opener, along with nine assists and 12 rebounds. It was the second-highest points by a Laker in the season's first game, just behind Bryant's 45 points to start the 2007-2008 NBA season, according to The Orange County Register's Khobi Price.

Luka Doncic's scoring total (43) tonight was the second-most by a Laker in a season-opener, behind Kobe Bryant's franchise record of 45 points to open the 2007-08 season.
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) October 22, 2025

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Doncic felt good after the game, which was especially noteworthy since he played a total of 41 minutes, a heavy workload for a player who was on the court all summer long for EuroBasket.

“My confidence was good,” he said, per The Athletic's Dan Woike. “I think there was a lot of positive things tonight, obviously a lot of things that we need to work on, especially third quarter.

"We got to figure that out. But my confidence was fine.”

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Doncic was especially lethal at the rim, converting 13 of 14 shots inside the painted area. He managed to make several incredible shots after absorbing contact and drawing a foul.

After the game, the Slovenian made it clear that he diligently attacked the basket to draw help defense and set up his teammates.

“Just attack the paint; when I attack the paint, things for my teammates,” Doncic said. “Sometimes they don’t help, sometimes, so I just gotta attack even more.”

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The Lakers, in reality, did well to hang with the Warriors, who were fully healthy and had a strong preseason ramp-up — a luxury Los Angeles lacked.

Doncic missed the start of training camp and the first preseason games due to his European basketball commitments, while LeBron James missed training camp with sciatica, a nerve issue that has prevented him from preparing for the season as he normally does.

Head coach J.J. Redick noted how much the team missed James on the court.

“It’s hard to forget about LeBron,” Redick said. “The reality is when you’re focused on the group that you have, you gotta make that group work. Sometimes you can just be like, ‘Oh my God, we’re gonna get LeBron back at some point.’ Like, it’s awesome, but you are focused.”

The Lakers will have a chance to right the ship on Friday against the Minnesota Timberwolves.