Luka Dončić’s hot start to the season received an early MVP endorsement from an opposing coach.
Trail Blazers coach Micah Nori had high praise for the Lakers superstar ahead of Friday’s matchup between the Lakers and Trail Blazers at Crypto.com Arena.
Dončić entered Friday with averages of 38.5 points on 49.5% shooting (43.1% on 3-pointers), 8.1 rebounds, eight assists and 1.8 steals.
The Trail Blazers saw the first glimpses of the Slovenian star’s strong play when he dropped 41 points to go with nine assists and five rebounds in the Lakers’ first loss of the season on Oct. 27.
“This is the best shape I’ve ever seen him in,” Nori said of Dončić pregame. “And what I mean by that is back in the day — and again we didn’t have a whole lot of success, he beat us in the [2024] Western Conference finals — but it was like pick [him] up full court. He’s gonna play a lot of minutes, wear him down and then later in the game you could maybe switch on this to him and then he might have a harder time going around people. But I don’t see that.”
The Trail Blazers coach agreed with NBA.com’s first MVP ladder ranking, which had Dončić at the top.
“He’s playing at an elite level,” Nori said. “Watching him, it just looks to me like he is in elite shape. He’s playing with a great amount of confidence. He’s got shooters around him, and he has a rolling big. So for him, it’s a perfect offensive storm. And he’s the MVP right now.”
