Redick seems to like when players try to go at Luka.
Luka Dončić doesn't need extra motivation.
He's the NBA's leading scorer, but when someone decides to talk trash to him, the results can be ugly for the other side.
That's what happened on Thursday night when the Los Angeles Lakers hosted the Chicago Bulls at Crypto.com Arena.
Second-year forward Matas Buzelis got into it with Dončić early in the game, and by the end of the night, he probably wished he hadn't.
Buzelis Picked the Wrong One
The jawing started in the first half, with Buzelis and Dončić trading buckets and verbal jabs while officials had to step in more than once.
Buzelis is a confident young player who is averaging 15.8 points and 5.5 rebounds per game this season, and he was coming off a career-high 41-point game against the Warriors just two days earlier.
Dončić didn't seem to mind.
"Somebody started talking to me, so that woke me up," Dončić said after the game with a grin.
He went on to drop 51 points, 10 rebounds, and nine assists in the Lakers' 142-130 win, shooting 17-of-31 from the field and a scorching 9-of-14 from three.
It was his first 50-point game as a Laker and his highest-scoring performance in over a year.
When asked who started the trash talk, Dončić paused before answering, "Matas... Buzelis," with a smile that made it obvious he enjoyed every second.
Buzelis finished with 22 points on 7-of-19 shooting, and after the game he admitted he would "probably not talk to" Dončić going forward.
Redick Calls It a 'Unique Trait'
Lakers head coach JJ Redick spoke after the game and pointed out that what makes Dončić special isn't just that he responds when opponents get physical or talk trash, but that he stays locked in on every other part of the game while doing it.
"It's a unique trait. It's not just the fact that he responds to rough play or trash talking, it's that he can channel it," Redick said. "He can channel it while still doing all the other things that need to be done. That's obviously reflected with his defensive rebounding, his assists, his steals. Another game where he gets a high assist number with low turnovers."
Dončić didn't just score at will on Thursday, he also dished out nine assists with limited turnovers and grabbed 10 boards while being one technical foul away from an automatic suspension.
Redick has also been vocal recently about how the media overlooks Dončić's play, saying the focus always lands on his shortcomings rather than recognizing his dominant stretch as the league's top scorer.
What This Means for the MVP Race
Dončić is now averaging 32.9 points, 7.9 rebounds, and 8.5 assists per game on the season, leading the NBA in scoring while ranking among the league's best in assists and steals.
The 41-25 Lakers have climbed to the third seed in the Western Conference and are riding a four-game winning streak, while the 27-39 Bulls continue to slide.
After his 51-point outing, Dončić jumped to fourth on NBA.com's official MVP ladder, trailing only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Victor Wembanyama, and Nikola Jokić.
He hasn't scored fewer than 27 points all month, and the Lakers have gone 6-1 in March as he's carried the team heading into the final stretch.
With 16 games left, Dončić probably won't catch Gilgeous-Alexander for the award, but performances like Thursday night remind everyone that when Luka gets going with a little extra fuel, there might not be a more dangerous player in basketball.