The Los Angeles Lakers are thrilled to have superstar Luka Doncic on the team. LA pulled off a seismic trade to acquire Doncic from Dallas back in February. Doncic has thrived ever since joining the Lakers. He is playing so well that one former Lakers player compared Doncic to one of the franchise's biggest legends.
Former Lakers player Sasha Vujacic compared his fellow countryman Luka Doncic to his former teammate Kobe Bryant.
“We actually don’t know each other, we know of each other. We had different routes that took us to the NBA, uh, but I think when he first got to the league, I think Mark Stern or somebody called me, and they’re like, ‘What do you think about him?’ You know, he comes from the same country, and a couple of them called me, and I said, ‘I’ll be honest, I watch him play, and he might be the only one that reminds me of a little bit more than anybody else of Kobe’,” Vujacic said on Out The Mud Podcast on Thursday.
Vujacic was on the Lakers with Bryant during the team's back-to-back title run from 2009-10.
He believes there are some compelling similarities between Doncic and Bryant.
Article Continues Below“He plays with a smile, he understands the geometry on a basketball court very well, he’s talented, but there’s something in his eyes that, when he plays the game of basketball, is just that killer thing that he has. Like, he can smell blood, you know? Like Kobe always said, ‘I can smell blood.’ You can see that he… you know, he’s still young, but I think he’s got something of my big bro there,” Vujacic added.
Ultimately, Vujacic believes that Doncic is a special player who could cement himself as one of the best players in Lakers history.
“He’s special,” Vujacic concluded. “He’s definitely special, and I think, uh, if he stays on the right path—and I think he will—there’s quite a few championships ahead of him.”
Hopefully Doncic and Lebron James can lead the Lakers to the NBA Finals this summer.