Luka Doncic went into Atlanta on Monday, dropped 32 points on the Hawks in a 124-114 Lakers win, and then made sure the crowd remembered who drafted him. The win pushed Los Angeles to 10-2, the best record in the NBA right now, as first reported by ClutchPoints.
On his way through the building, Luka had words for the Hawks faithful. “You all wish you would have had me,” he told them, per Michael J. Duarte of the California Post. Some fans clapped back. Most of them knew he had a point.
The Draft-Night Trade That Still Stings
Quick history lesson for the young heads: Atlanta picked Doncic in the 2018 NBA Draft and flipped him to Dallas for Trae Young plus extra draft capital. For a minute it looked fine. The Hawks reached the Eastern Conference Finals in 2021. Then Luka took Dallas to the West Finals in 2022 and the NBA Finals in 2024, and Atlanta eventually traded Young away too. Now Luka is wearing purple and gold and racking up wins on a back-to-back without Austin Reaves.
The best part of the night might have been the quiet moment, though. Rookie guard Cameron Carr scored the first points of his NBA career, and Luka grabbed the game ball for him. “You always want to remember your first bucket,” Doncic said afterward, via Spectrum SportsNet.
The IAHHM Take
This is peak Luka: cold-blooded with the opposing fanbase, big brother energy with his own locker room. Trash talk only works when the receipts are real, and an MVP-level start plus the league’s best record is a pretty loud receipt. The question for the rest of the league is simple: is anybody slowing this Lakers team down before Christmas?
More hoops on IAHHM: the Knicks’ latest win over Cleveland and Cooper Flagg’s PB&J bench ritual in Dallas.
Was Atlanta wrong on draft night, or did Trae Young give them the run they needed? Let us know.
Source: ClutchPoints
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