Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic has been an offensive supernova from the moment he stepped on an NBA court. He's once again putting up MVP stats this season (33.5 points, 8.7 assists, 8.2 rebounds per game), and no one on Earth can deny that Luka is a top-two offensive talent in the NBA.
However, despite the continuing wizardry that Luka wields with the ball in his hands, the Lakers will not ascend to championship heights until his defensive effort becomes more consistent. Los Angeles was one of the worst defensive teams in the Association during December, and it's the team's New Year's resolution to fix that.
Trading for a defensive stud would help matters, but ultimately, the Lakers have in-house effort problems to address, and that begins with Doncic.
If Luka Doncic doesn't increase his effort on defense, the Lakers aren't going anywhere
Luka Doncic: "I don't know what has to change, but definitely something needs to change...We got to figure out, that's the thing we have [to do]. Everybody got to talk about it. I know JJ said it's going to be uncomfortable. As [it] should be." pic.twitter.com/43M3CYQfEx
— Khobi Price (@khobi_price) December 26, 2025
Luka's generational playmaking talent often hypnotizes fans and analysts into forgetting about his lackadaisical defense, but sometimes the truth seeps through the cracks. In a recent moment that went viral, NBA broadcaster Reggie Miller called out Doncic for poor help defense against the Detroit Pistons.
Less than a week prior, JJ Redick ranted to the media on Christmas Day about the Lakers' defensive laziness. Redick didn't name any specific players, but he did say that the perpetrators were consistent in their lack of effort. Fans couldn't help assuming that Luka was among the guys Redick was referring to.
Luka's attitude on defense is particularly cancerous to the Lakers because he is the alpha of the team. As such, his habits are contagious.
Conversely, when you look at a superstar alpha who gives consistent effort on defense, it's often the case that his team follows suit. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and the Oklahoma City Thunder are the most obvious example.
Doncic doesn't have the physical tools to be an elite defender, but he doesn't need to suddenly become Gary Payton defensively to ensure that Los Angeles is a contender. He just has to raise the floor of his nightly defensive effort from zero to something, if only to set the tone for the rest of the Lakers.
Max Kellerman provided a spot-on take about how Luka Doncic's defense impacts the Lakers
Longtime sports personality Max Kellerman aptly summed up the Luka problem during a recent episode of the Game Over with Max Kellerman and Rich Paul podcast.
“(Luka) is cast as the star, the leading man, but there (are) still things that he has not embraced yet that come along with that role, that if he were to do that, the Lakers would be much better off, including, as Reggie Miller pointed out last night … move your feet on defense," Kellerman said.
Kellerman's right. And while it took Doncic less than a calendar year to expose Nico Harrison's awful decision to trade him (Harrison is already unemployed), Harrison's reasoning hasn't been 100 percent disproven.
After all, Nico didn't believe a Luka-led team could win an NBA Finals, and defense (or lack thereof) was a huge reason why. Luka was exposed defensively in the 2024 Finals. He's never going to be a great defender, but with his IQ and size, there's no reason Doncic should be this much of a liability.