Asked to describe what he’d seen from Luka Dončić in the early days of the 2025-26 NBA season, Marcus Smart found himself forced past grammar, diction and sense.

“Fantasticness,” Smart offered after the Los Angeles Lakers’ win last Friday over the slumping Memphis Grizzlies.

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Is that a word? Well, not strictly speaking, no. But then: If stuff like what Luka’s been putting on the court doesn’t inspire you to start reaching beyond the surly bonds of language, are you even really a poet?

Those first Men’s Health cover shots of a newly chiseled Luka raised Lakers fans’ expectations for what kind of magic he might make in his first full season in Los Angeles; his dominant run for Slovenia at EuroBasket 2025 sent those expectations into the stratosphere. But even the most cockeyed optimist probably would’ve stopped shy of “averaging 37 points, nine rebounds and nine assists per game on career-best shooting efficiency.”

… and yet!

After another monster performance in a 121-111 win over the Charlotte Hornets on Monday, that’s exactly where Luka’s at: leading the NBA in scoring and absolutely scorching as the pilot at the controls of a Lakers team that sits at 8-3 entering Wednesday’s marquee nationally televised matchup with the rampaging, defending NBA champion Oklahoma City Thunder.

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Nico Harrison probably would’ve gotten fired anyway, given the rapid and rancid deterioration in the state of affairs in Dallas since his fateful decision to trade Luka to L.A. for Anthony Davis. Dončić opening the season looking even better than the version that made five consecutive All-NBA First Teams and led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals, though, probably didn’t help Nico’s cause all that much. What’s that they say? Living well is the best revenge?

Granted: “This is the best Luka Dončić we’ve ever seen” is an awfully lofty claim. It’s also one that’s getting harder to argue, though, as he progresses through what’s become a legitimately historic season-opening heater. Dončić is averaging just over one point per minute of play, a Giannis/healthy Embiid level of scoring dominance; according to Justin Kubatko of Statitudes, Dončić was just the second NBA player ever to score 200 or more points through his first five games, and the first to do it since the 1962-63 season. When the only person sharing a statistical achievement with you is Wilt Chamberlain, then chances are you’re doing pretty friggin’ well … and Dončić is, virtually across the board. (“Virtually” because, thanks to a 1-for-11 shooting night from 3-point land in a win over the Heat, he’s at just 32.1% from long distance. Achilles had the heel, you know?)

He’s been devastating when penetrating off the dribble, trailing only Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, teammate Austin Reaves and Cade Cunningham of the surging Pistons in points scored on drives to the basket. His touch on the interior remains imperial; he’s shooting a career-best 65.5% inside the arc, including an absurd 88% at the cup.

That, plus a 79.3% success rate at the charity stripe, where he’s going more often than ever, has more than counteracted the frosty start from long range: Through seven games, Luka’s true shooting percentage (which factors in 2-point, 3-point and free-throw accuracy) is .628, which would be by far the highest of his career. The only players who’ve ever finished a season with a usage rate and true shooting percentage even close to as high as Luka’s are right now: James Harden in 2019-20, Joel Embiid in 2020-21 and 2022-23, and Giannis Antetokounmpo last season.

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In addition to leading the league in scoring, Dončić is also sixth in assists per game and points per game created via assist. And despite an absolutely mammoth shot-creation workload in the absence of LeBron James — leading the NBA in usage rate, second in touches (behind Tyrese Maxey) and time of possession (behind Cunningham), with the ball in his hands 44% of the time he’s on the floor, according to NBA RAPM — Luka’s posting the lowest turnover rate of his career, coughing it up on just 11.5% of the offensive possessions he uses.

The assists are up and turnovers down, in part, because of the chemistry he’s developing with big men Deandre Ayton — he has 17 assists on Ayton buckets in just 161 shared minutes — and Jaxson Hayes. Having a pair of huge rim-running roll threats who draw defensive attention creates additional space for Luka to cook in the in-between game; he’s shooting 58.5% on non-rim shots in the paint and 56.5% from midrange, according to NBA Advanced Stats.

When combined with credible catch-and-shoot targets on the perimeter — Rui Hachimura and Jake LaRavia have both been shooting the lights out — it also makes for a pretty stunning engine of consistent NBA offense. Including plays where he passes to a teammate who shoots, the Lakers are scoring 1.173 points per play out of a Dončić pick-and-roll — the third-highest rate of any player to finish at least 75 such plays, according to Synergy Sports, behind only rising-star running buddy Reaves and Bucks breakout performer Ryan Rollins.

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Luka’s previous career-high watermark in pick-and-roll point production, by the way: 1.157 points per play, back in 2022-23 … when he led the Mavericks to the NBA Finals.

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All told, the Lakers rank sixth in points per non-garbage-time possession, according to Cleaning the Glass. With Luka on the floor, though, they’re scoring a mammoth 125.4 points-per-100 — a rate that would eclipse the Knicks’ top-ranked offense.

“He just continues to get where he wants to go, and he takes what the defense gives him,” Lakers coach JJ Redick told reporters after Dončić scored 44 points against Memphis.

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A lot of the time, that’s true. Sometimes, though, Dončić side-steps taking what the defense gives, and just goes ahead and takes whatever he wants …

Dončić has provided everything the Lakers could’ve asked for and then some — one of the biggest reasons why they’re just a half-game out of second in the West, hot on OKC’s trail, despite Dončić missing four games, despite Reaves missing three games with groin soreness, and despite James not having played yet as he works through a sciatica issue.

As Law Murray noted at The Athletic, Redick has already had to cycle through seven different starting lineups in 11 games as he navigates all the injuries. It’s not yet clear when Redick will have a full squad to deploy — LeBron’s working out with the Lakers’ G League affiliate in advance of a potential return, but a specific timeline remains TBD — or when he’ll be able to ease off the gas in terms of just how much he’s asking of Luka.

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He’ll have to at some point; it seems unreasonable to expect even a supernaturally gifted playmaker in the best shape of his life to continue at this torrid a pace. Then again, magicians thrive on subverting the audience’s expectations. And considering the magic Luka’s performing on a nightly basis, maybe we’d be best served to just sit back, watch the show, and wait for the next play that’ll send Smart and the rest of us grasping for the most appropriate adjective we can find.