Luka Doncic is on an absolute tear at the moment, and Los Angeles Lakers legend James Worthy has been incredibly impressed by what he is seeing. So much so, that Worthy made an incredibly bold claim about Doncic on Access SportsNet after he scored 60 points, 20 in the fourth quarter, in the Lakers’ 134-126 win over the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center on Thursday.
“Historically, the Lakers have had clutch players,” Worthy said. “Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar] with the sky hook, Magic [Johnson] with his play, Kobe [Bryant], [Shaquille O’Neal], [Derek Fisher] hitting 0.4. But I don’t think we’ve ever seen one as consistent and as dominant as Luka Doncic. The way he controls the game with the ball in his hand. And a shot maker. He’s a shot maker, [Chris McGee], from anywhere. And he’s really good at drawing fouls, too.”
That’s saying a lot. Worthy, of course, played alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson in the Showtime era. He then got to witness Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant in action, and thinks Doncic trumps them all.
There aren’t really advanced stats that you can bring up to compare Doncic to the likes of Abdul-Jabbar and Johnson in the clutch, though. What we can look at, perhaps, is game-winning buzzer-beaters. Bryant leads the way in this group with eight. Then come Abdul-Jabbar, Johnson, and Doncic with three each. O’Neal is then at the bottom with just one. Doncic does have time on his hands to close that gap to Bryant.
As for why Worthy felt comfortable making such a claim, that is down to how well Doncic is operating down the stretch in games lately. Against the Heat here, the Slovenian re-entered the game with 7:35 left in the fourth quarter. The Lakers led 105-98 at that point, and he’d carry them the rest of the way with those 20 points.
Doncic hit one shot after another when the Heat were threatening to make this a one-possession game and ensured the visitors won relatively comfortably in the end. He finished the game with 60 points (18-30 FG), seven rebounds, three assists, and five steals, and to deliver in this fashion on the second night of a back-to-back is incredible.
Doncic shone in the clutch in the Lakers’ 124-116 win over the Houston Rockets on Wednesday as well. The 27-year-old had 10 points in the fourth quarter that night to get his team over the line.
If we go back a bit further, Doncic also hit the game-winner in the Lakers’ 127-125 overtime win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday. You do not want to be in a close game with this team because they have a guy who is going to execute better than anyone on your team, a lot more often than not.
Doncic, who is shooting 47.4% from the field and 42.9% from three in the clutch this season, can score from just about anywhere on the court, and it doesn’t really matter how well you defend him. He is arguably the best tough-shot maker in the game today. Doncic is an exceptional playmaker as well, so if a team sends the double-team, he is going to find the open man. It is basically a case of pick your poison.
Doncic is the biggest reason why the Lakers have a terrific 21-6 record in clutch games this season. To give some context here, every other team has lost at least 10 clutch games. Doncic is just somewhat of a cheat code in these situations.
Getting back to Worthy, he hasn’t always been very complimentary of Doncic. The 65-year-old previously called him out for whining about fouls on every possession. Worthy also felt Doncic’s numbers looked like empty calories following the Lakers’ 132-119 loss to the San Antonio Spurs on Dec. 10, 2025. No one can say that about his play in this recent stretch, though.
Doncic has powered the Lakers to an impressive eight-game winning streak now. They are 45-25 on the season and will take on the Orlando Magic next at Kia Center on Saturday at 7 p.m. ET.
