On Tuesday night, Luka Doncic made his preseason debut for the Los Angeles Lakers in a contest against a shorthanded Phoenix Suns squad that was without Devin Booker, Dillon Brooks, Jalen Green, and Mark Williams. Doncic is coming off a solid summer in which he led his home country of Slovenia to a top-eight finish in the 2025 EuroBasket, and expectations for the 26-year-old star are sky-high as he enters his first full campaign playing for the Lakers.
Doncic is noticeably slimmer, which is a direct response to the criticisms he received regarding his fitness. And he was moving quicker and looked like he was in midseason form already to start off proceedings for the Lakers on Tuesday. In fact, Doncic gave Suns rookie Khaman Maluach his “welcome to the NBA” moment, with the Lakers star putting the rookie in the blender after the former got the latter isolated on his way to the cup.
Luka Doncic takes Khaman Maluach to school for the and-one 🙌pic.twitter.com/2e49oINziA
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) October 15, 2025
If there's one thing that Doncic excels at, it's at changing speeds and shifting directions. Maluach stood little chance at guarding him in the perimeter, and the Lakers star took this opportunity to toy with the inexperienced big man.
Doncic has stopped on a dime and turned around to swish home a midrange shot for his entire career, and Maluach has certainly seen the Lakers star do this over and over again to embarrass his defenders. Alas, Doncic is not a one-trick pony and he reacted well to the Suns rookie's decision to overplay the jumpshot, drawing the and-one in the process.
This is just the first of many instances this season in which Doncic would make mincemeat of his defender, so Maluach can hold his head high and not feel too bad about being the Lakers star's latest victim.
Luka Doncic, Lakers brace for start of season without LeBron James
Doncic will have his work cut out for him to start the season as the Lakers will be without LeBron James to start the new campaign. James is currently recovering from sciatica, which is going to keep him out for multiple weeks. The good news is that Doncic has plenty of experience leading a team, and he is ripe for a high-usage role alongside Austin Reaves.
On Tuesday night, Doncic recorded 25 points, seven rebounds, and four assists in just 22 minutes of play as he continues to ramp up for the Lakers' Opening Night contest against the Golden State Warriors.
