NBA Makes Luka Doncic Announcement on Monday

Doncic is currently in his first full season with the Lakers following his blockbuster trade deal from the Dallas Mavericks earlier this year. L.A. gave up Anthony Davis , Max Christie and a future first-round pick in order to acquire Doncic from the Mavs. It was a massive investment for the Lakers, but Doncic has proven that he’s worth his weight in gold.

A testament to this fact is how Doncic rewrote the franchise history books again on Monday night. This is after he dropped 20 points on 8-of-11 shooting in the opening quarter against the Suns. In the process, Doncic climbed the franchise leaderboards for the most 20-point quarters.

The NBA took to social media to make the announcement.

“Luka Dončić now sits only behind Kobe Bryant for the second-most 20-point quarters in franchise history during the play-by-play era (since 1997–98),” the league posted on X.  

As the NBA’s post indicates, Doncic surpassed Davis for the No. 2 spot on the list after the former’s 20-point explosion in the first quarter of Monday’s game. Doncic, however, is still 31 games behind the late, great Kobe Bryant for the all-time record.

Unfortunately for the Lakers, their winning streak came to an end at the hands of the Suns on Monday night. Phoenix came into Crypto.com Arena to dominate the Lakers on their home floor, en route to a 125-108 victory.

Doncic did all he could for L.A. in this one, finishing with 38 points, 11 rebounds, five assists and three triples. The five-time All-NBA guard turned the ball over nine times, though, adding to the Lakers’ misery in the loss.

Doncic and Co. get two days off before they get a chance to redeem the loss to Phoenix. They have a back-to-back set against the Toronto Raptors and the Boston Celtics, who they will face on the road on Thursday and Friday, respectively.