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Kendrick Perkins thinks SGA's historic run made Doncic envious: "I hope Luka is jealous"
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- Kendrick Perkins thinks SGA's historic run made Doncic envious: "I hope Luka is jealous"
Kendrick Perkins thinks SGA's historic run made Doncic envious: "I hope Luka is jealous" originally appeared on Basketball Network .
From the very first day he entered the league, there was something different about Luka Doncic . A European who reminded everyone of Dirk Nowitzki with his one-legged fadeaway, Doncic finished his rookie season with an incredible average of 21.2 points, 7.8 rebounds and 6.0 assists, and it was immediately clear that the league had found its next big thing.
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Seven seasons have passed since then, and Luka is still a young player at 26 years old with a resume that includes a Rookie of the Year award, five All-NBA First Team selections, five All-Star appearances, a scoring title and a Western Conference Finals MVP.
Gilgeous-Alexander has definitely taken the torch from Doncic
The Slovenian has already played through some unbelievable individual seasons and is currently the only player in history besides Michael Jordan to average over 30 points per game in the playoffs. However, after reaching the Finals with the Dallas Mavericks two seasons ago, Luka was suddenly traded to the Los Angeles Lakers after spending half the season injured.
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Many saw him as the future face of the league, but after this season, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander definitely took that torch from Doncic. Kendrick Perkins spoke about the upcoming season on the Road Trippin podcast and what he expects from The Don.
"All of a sudden, Luka is in shape?" Perkins said . "All of a sudden, Luka had to watch young SGA have one of the greatest individual runs in NBA history? Luka had to watch that? I hope Luka is jealous, as a matter of fact, I believe he is jealous. In a good way, he should envy SGA and come back on a mission, and I believe he will."
Different paths
Perkins' claim that this was one of the greatest individual seasons in history isn't far off, after the Canadian led the league in scoring, won regular season MVP, Western Conference Finals MVP, and NBA Finals MVP, and brought home the first championship in Oklahoma City Thunder history . It was also his third straight season averaging 30+ points on over 50% shooting from the field.
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That puts Shai in exclusive company with players like Michael Jordan (8), Wilt Chamberlain (7), Oscar Robertson (6), Allen Iverson (4), Jerry West (4), Adrian Dantley (4), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (3), Elgin Baylor (3), Kobe Bryant (3), and LeBron James (3), who all averaged 30+ points in three or more seasons.
Shai's meteoric rise is incredible, especially considering how different his path was from Luka's. After his rookie season, Gilgeous-Alexander averaged just 10.8 points and was far from the headlines like Doncic. But through hard work, SGA reached the point where he's now being mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and Dwyane Wade as one of the best shooting guards ever.
It's also worth noting that thanks to his incredible performances, Gilgeous-Alexander joined an elite club alongside D-Wade and MJ as the only guards in the NBA's 78-year history to average 30+ points, 5+ rebounds, 5+ assists, 2+ steals, and 1+ block per game over a season. Elite company.
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On the other hand, Luka Magic has been in the brightest spotlight since his early days with Real Madrid and is surely expected to have an MVP title under his belt by now, gradually becoming the face of the league. However, after this season, it'll be incredibly challenging to top what SGA accomplished. Although many compare the Slovenian's playing style to that of LeBron James, Danny Green picks Gilgeous-Alexander as "that dude" over Doncic .
"Both of these guys are MVP caliber players, and Luka for sure will get one, and Shai has a really strong chance of getting one in his career," Green said . "I think Luka right now is the better, I won't say overall player, but if I mix the (concept of making) team better, he's closer to Bron than anybody… more of a triple-double guy. (But) I think Shai has the deeper bag. Shai is just that dude, bro. Just offensively, he's skilled, and Luka's skilled too… he's not far off, but I'm just sayin' Shai has a deeper bag."
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Two completely different mentalities
SGA is more of an MJ-type player and a killer scorer, while the Don is an all-around phenom who does absolutely everything on the floor — two completely different mentalities. This debate has the potential to evolve over the years into something like the Kobe vs. LeBron discourse.
Considering Nikola Jokic already has three MVPs, Giannis Antetokounmpo has two, and Shai has one — all three with rings on their fingers — it will be a challenging task for Luka to catch the big three in the coming years, especially with rising stars like Victor Wembanyama and Cooper Flagg coming up.
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However, if he can return to the form he showed two seasons ago, when in a direct matchup he outplayed the Canadian and leveled the Thunder with the Mavericks, Doncic could kill two birds with one stone — win the MVP and bring the Lakers their 18th title, which would instantly launch him back into conversations about the best player in the league.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 30, 2025, where it first appeared.
