Luka Doncic has had one of the greatest starts to an NBA career that the basketball world has ever seen. In his first six years in the league, he won the Rookie of the Year and then rolled off five straight First Team All-NBA selections. If not for a calf strain that caused him to miss extended time last year, he likely would have done it again.
Advertisement
You don’t pile up accolades like that without authoring more than a few memorable moments. Luka has had more than his fair share already, and on his recent appearance on Hot Ones, he recalled a few of his favorites.
Luka was still early in his hot wings challenge, having just bitten into one flavored by a pickled garlic sriracha sauce with a Scoville level of 18,000, when host Sean Evans asked him what moments from his career he’d still be reliving when he was 50 years old.
“Probably that Western Conference Finals game-winner, the 3 against Minnesota, I think that one was one of my favorites,” Luka responded. “And the Clippers, I think it was 2020 in the bubble, that game-winner, too. It was my first playoff series, so I would say those two.”
Evans immediately pivoted to asking Luka about the difference between NBA trash talk and Euro ball trash talk, which was fitting since he probably recalled Luka’s reaction after hitting that 3 against the Wolves. NBA fans may remember that Luka forced a Rudy Gobert switch at the top of the key, then put the four-time Defensive Player of the Year on skates before draining a step-back 3 right in his mug.
On the way back down the court, Luka let Gobert know about it with a profane outburst that we can’t print here. That shot helped propel his Mavs to a 2-0 series lead, and they’d eventually close Minnesota out in five games as Luka and his 32.4 points per game took home the Western Conference Finals MVP award.
Luka is hoping to create some more memories in his first full season with the Lakers, which begins in less than two weeks. He’ll also be looking for payback against Gobert and the Wolves after being knocked out by them in the first round of the playoffs last year.
Ever since Luka came to the Lakers at February’s trade deadline, his conditioning has been the subject of much debate. Mavs general manager Nico Harrison and governor Patrick Dumont both intimated that Luka’s weight was an issue, but after Lakers head coach JJ Redick put an emphasis on the entire team’s conditioning at the end of the season, Luka has gone to work and lost over 30 pounds.
International fans that got to see him in action in the EuroBasket tournament in August came away extremely impressed, as not only did he look good, he played even better as he led the tournament with 34.7 points per game for his native Slovenia.
A few hot wings should do nothing to derail Luka’s new fitness regime, and Lakers fans are readying themselves for an MVP kind of season from their new superstar.
