The Los Angeles Lakers have won 17 championships with a philosophy that's proven as effective as any in NBA history. Regardless of whom the Lakers have matched up against during their championship years, there wasn't a team in the Association that could claim to have an outright better player than their top star.
After completing a blockbuster trade for Luka Doncic, the same can officially be said about the 2024-25 Lakers—and there's one rival in particular that should be sweating.
Doncic, 25, arrives in Los Angeles with a résumé that's already clinched his place in the Hall of Fame. He's a five-time All-NBA First Team honoree who won the 2023-24 scoring title, the 2018-19 Rookie of the Year award, and a 2017 EuroBasket gold medal.
Doncic has also been the go-to player during two deep playoff runs, guiding the Dallas Mavericks to the 2022 Western Conference Finals and 2024 NBA Finals.
One of the teams that knows best about what Doncic brings to the table just so happens to be one of the Lakers' greatest rivals. It's a franchise against which Los Angeles has played 13 playoff series, including a relatively recent encounter in 2021.
Thankfully, with Doncic on the roster, the Lakers are finally equipped to right the ship against the rival Phoenix Suns and re-establish postseason dominance.
Luka Doncic gives the Lakers a significant edge against the rival Suns
Los Angeles boasts an all-time postseason series record of 8-5 against the Suns. As such, one would be inclined to believe that Doncic's arrival simply spells the continuation of a general string of success against a team that has zero titles to the Lakers' 17.
Unfortunately, Phoenix has won three of the past four playoff series that it's played against Los Angeles, including the 2021 meeting.
Thankfully, Doncic has had no such trouble dealing with the Suns during his NBA career. In 21 regular season games against Phoenix, he's produced averages of 33.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 2.5 three-point field goals made while shooting 47.1 percent from the field.
In Doncic's past five showings against the Suns, he posted 50 points and 15 assists, 34 points and nine assists, 41 points and 11 assists, 40 points and 10 rebounds, and 30 points and seven assists.
Doncic also led Dallas past Phoenix during the 2022 Western Conference Semifinals. He did so by averaging 32.6 points, 9.9 rebounds, 7.6 assists, 2.1 steals, and 3.1 three-point field goals made per contest, taking over late to lead the Mavericks from down 3-2 to the Conference Finals.
Doncic dropped 33 points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, and four steals to help Dallas win Game 6, and went off for 35 points on 12-of-19 shooting to put Phoenix away in Game 7.
Now playing for the Lakers, Doncic will reignite his rivalry with Devin Booker and the Suns. There's unavoidable pressure for Los Angeles to defeat a team that's had its number, and Doncic will be at the forefront of those efforts.
Phoenix gave past Lakers superstars trouble, but Doncic has already proven to know exactly how to slice through its defense and put his team on his back.