Story by
Luka Doni already passed LeBron James on this Lakers scoring list
- Story by
- Luka Doni already passed LeBron James on this Lakers scoring list
Brooklyn Nets v Los Angeles Lakers | Adam Pantozzi/GettyImages
The Los Angeles Lakers and LeBron James had a relatively toxic breakup this offseason. And since Luka Doni is the preordained heir to James' beautiful Los Angeles throne, some degree of conflict exists between the two, whether they want to recognize it or not. It doesn't help that Doni took an indirect jab at James by saying he doesn't plan to don his mantle as LeGM .
Doni, who is 14 years younger than James, is clearly the better player at this point in time. However, when it comes to all-time legacies, The King is second to none. At this point, James holds pretty much every single longevity record imaginable, including the most coveted one: the title of all-time leading scorer.
Advertisement
Still, even LeBron can't have everything he wants, and after a monster Sunday showing from Doni, James is now behind the guy who took his job.
The most 40-point games in Los Angeles Lakers history
On Sunday, Doni steamrolled a Utah Jazz defense that looked hopeless against his array of pump fakes and step-backs, tallying 52 points, 10 assists and eight rebounds. It marked the third time Doni has scored 50 points in a Lakers uniform, and the 19th time he has eclipsed the 40-point threshold.
That second data point is notable in this context, because James only had 18 such occasions when he was wearing the Purple and Gold. What makes this even more impressive is that James spent longer with the Lakers (eight seasons) than he has anywhere else. Meanwhile, Doni has only been with Los Angeles for a little over two and a half seasons.
Advertisement
Now, Doni officially has more 40-point games than James had in a Lakers' uniform. However, James still has 38 more (108) such games in his career. Of course, given how storied the Lakers are, neither of these two are near the top of the all-time franchise leaderboard -which by the way, we have been so kind to provide right here:
| Player Name |
40-Point Games As A Laker |
|---|---|
| Kobe Bryant |
122 |
| Elgin Baylor |
88 |
| Jerry West |
66 |
| Shaquille O'Neal |
26 |
| George Mikan |
23 |
| Luka Doni |
19 |
| LeBron James |
18 |
| Kareem Abdul-Jabbar |
15 |
| Anthony Davis |
15 |
| Gail Goodrich |
11 |
Doni still has a long way to go to even sniff the top spot. If he stays healthy, he'll probably surpass George Mikan for No. 5 all-time, and if he's on a real heater, maybe he'll even catch up to Shaquille O'Neal.
However, even if Doni remains a Laker for the rest of his career, it seems really unlikely that he will get another 104 40-point games in order to surpass Kobe Bryant for the top spot. No player ever has spent more games in a Laker uniform than the deceased Hall of Famer (1,346 games).
Today's best reads
Advertisement
This article was originally published on www.fansided.com as Luka Doni already passed LeBron James on this Lakers scoring list .
