The Los Angeles Lakers beat the Charlotte Hornets 121-111 at Spectrum Center on Monday, and a rather rare event took place in that game. Lakers superstar Luka Doncic pulled off just his second dunk of the season in the third quarter, which got the crowd and the announcers hyped.
Doncic was pretty pleased to accomplish that rare feat, but his Lakers teammates are hilariously trolling him for it. The Slovenian put up a post on Instagram that included a picture of him dunking, and he should have known what would happen next.
Austin Reaves, Jake LaRavia, and Jarred Vanderbilt all made some rather hilarious comments on his post.
“2nd pic AI,” Vanderbilt wrote.
“Hater,” Doncic responded.
“U can dunk?” LaRavia asked.
“Hater #2,” Doncic responded.
“First dunk of the year,” Reaves wrote.
“Hater #3 second btw,” Doncic responded.
Reaves had also previously stated that Doncic’s first dunk of the season against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Oct. 24 did not count. The five-time All-Star called the guard a hater for that in his postgame press conference, and you’d presume that’s why he wrote “second” there. This was the first dunk, in case you need a refresher.
You be the judge of whether that should qualify as a dunk or not. Doncic’s teammates aren’t giving it to him, much to his annoyance. The 26-year-old should just start dunking more often to get them off his back.
Funnily enough, Reaves had trolled Doncic after that game against the Timberwolves, too. The latter missed a free throw that could have resulted in him getting to 50 points, and the former threw a friendly jab at him for it. Expect these two to keep at it for the foreseeable future.
That dunk against the Hornets was the highlight of what was yet another incredible performance from Doncic. He put up 38 points (14-28 FG), six rebounds, seven assists, and one steal on the night.
It speaks to just how ridiculously well Doncic has been playing that you wouldn’t even call this one of his very best games so far. He started the campaign with three straight 40-point games, which led to talk about whether he could average 40 for a season.
Doncic is now averaging 37.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, 9.1 assists, 1.7 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game for the Lakers in 2025-26. Even for as great as he is, 40 does seem beyond reach, but 37.1 is still ridiculous, of course.
Dwyane Wade thinks LeBron James’ absence due to sciatica might have been the best thing to happen to Doncic. He has been able to lead the show, and it will be interesting to see how he adapts when James returns. There is no doubt these two will be great together, but the scoring numbers certainly will dip a bit.
Doncic has the Lakers rolling at the moment as they sport an 8-3 record. They are in action next against the 11-1 Oklahoma City Thunder at Paycom Center on Wednesday at 9:30 PM ET. The Thunder, the defending champions, have been the best team in the NBA so far and will provide the Lakers with their sternest test yet.
