With LeBron James gone, the spotlight in Los Angeles has shifted hard to Luka Doncic, the star the Lakers landed in that stunning February 2025 trade from the Dallas Mavericks. And if you want a sense of how high some around the league still are on Doncic, Rick Carlisle just handed out a pair of heavyweight comparisons.
Carlisle, who coached Doncic during the first three seasons of his NBA career in Dallas, said the Lakers guard is showing a Magic Johnson-like impact with the ball in his hands.
“Luka's played with these guys, and he is playing like Magic Johnson. He is rebounding, and he is throwing dimes all over the place,” Carlisle recalled via Yahoo Sports. “He wasn't really even looking to score, and I'm like, ‘God, this guy's like a Magic Johnson type player.'”
Carlisle didn’t stop there. He said Doncic stands out as the most distinctive player he’s ever coached, while also praising the edge that comes with his game.
“From a talent standpoint and ability and everything else, he's the most unique player I've ever worked with. He's just so, so good.
And he's a killer. He's a killer competitor, too.”
Then Carlisle widened the frame again, this time bringing Larry Bird into the conversation. Bird was Carlisle’s former teammate with the Boston Celtics, and Carlisle said Doncic shares plenty with him.
“Guys like Bird, I'm trying to think of somebody today who's like that. Luka, Luka's got a lot of that.
He has fun with the game. He talks s***.
He's brash, all that kind of stuff,” Carlisle said. “Larry did it a little more under his breath at times.
Other times he stepped up, he got in fights and other stuff like that, but as a competitor, I put him up there with Jordan and all the greatest guys, Russell.”
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