Luka Doncic, who had a career-high performance in the Mavericks’ 148-143 victory over the Hawks, couldn’t help but think about Kobe Bryant.
Luka Doncic had his finest performance as an NBA player on Friday night, leading the Dallas Mavericks to a 148-143 victory over the Atlanta Hawks while dishing out 73 points with previously unheard-of efficiency. While some may view today as routine, it is really the fourth anniversary of the terrible death of renowned Los Angeles Lakers player Kobe Bryant. Throughout Doncic’s outstanding performance, it looked that he was thinking of the Black Mamba.
In fact, Doncic disclosed how much Bryant meant and still means to him at his postgame news conference. The Mavericks star also talked about how meaningful it is for him to have the greatest scoring night of his NBA career on this particular date in remembrance of the great Lakers icon who passed away and his contributions to the game of basketball.
“Dude, it’s incredible.” It’s quite unique. Everyone adores Kobe. It’s hard to think it has been four years since the great catastrophe. That’s why experiencing it on the same day is unique. According to Landon Thomas of Mavs Fan For Life, Doncic stated, “But obviously, I wish he was here.”
Even after his death four years ago, Kobe Bryant’s influence is still felt greatly by the NBA’s current generation of superstars, Luka Doncic, Jayson Tatum, and Devin Booker among others whose play was greatly impacted by the Black Mamba.
The Mavericks player continues to honor Bryant on his Twitter (X) page, as Landon Thomas noted. Even now, Doncic’s profile photo is still the iconic photo of the Lakers great with her daughter Gianna, and his header image is a shot of him with the Black Mamba.