Luka Dončić Rightfully Earns NBA Award After Hot Start to Season

Luka Dončić scored 42 points to open the week, followed it with 40 on the road and finished with 53 in an NBA Cup win. The NBA named the Los Angeles Lakers guard Western Conference Player of the Week on Monday for games played Nov. 2–8.

Dončić averaged 45.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 8.3 assists while shooting 52.5% from the field and 39.5% from 3-point range.

The Lakers won all three games he played during the award period, and the honor was his fifth with Los Angeles and 20th of his career.

The strongest case for Dončić might start with the game in which he did the most to get his teammates involved. Against Miami, he paired 42 points and six 3-pointers with 13 assists in a 138-117 win.

It was his 19th career game with at least 40 points, 10 assists and five 3-pointers, moving him past James Harden for the most in NBA history.

That combination makes it difficult to pick a coverage and live with the consequences. Send a second defender and Dončić can get the ball to a teammate before the rotation arrives. Give him space around a screen and he can pull up.

Against Miami, the Lakers got the full benefit of both threats on the same night.

Two nights later, Dončić put up 40 points, nine rebounds and seven assists in a 116-103 win over Sacramento, his 100th regular-season game as a Laker. It was also his sixth straight game with at least 35 points, five rebounds, five assists and five made 3-pointers, a streak the Lakers said no NBA player had put together before.

Then came the game that made the award feel settled. Dončić scored a season-high 53 points in a 124-118 NBA Cup win over Portland, adding five rebounds and five assists. He joined Elgin Baylor, George Mikan and Kobe Bryant as the only Lakers to score at least 40 points in four consecutive games.

Through his first nine appearances, Dončić was averaging a league-leading 40.1 points to go with 7.8 rebounds and 7.7 assists. According to the Lakers, he became the first player since Wilt Chamberlain in 1962–63 to average at least 40 points through his first nine games of a season.

There were credible alternatives in the West. Stephen Curry, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Victor Wembanyama were among the nominees, as was Lakers teammate Austin Reaves. Los Angeles finished the award period 9-2 overall, and Dončić had a hand in three of those wins in six days.

The Portland game will be the one people remember, but the Miami performance explains why Dončić deserved the award. A 42-point night could carry a week on its own. Dončić added 13 assists, then gave the Lakers two more 40-point wins before the week was over.