LOS ANGELES — Privately, Luka Dončić believed he had done enough. It was late March and Dončić was on the tail end of a historic scoring binge, racking up 37.5 points over 16 games. He collected eight rebounds and 7.4 assists. He shot nearly 50% from the floor. Nearly 40% from three. The Lakers went 15–2 for the month, surging into a top-four seed. Asked about his place in the MVP race, Dončić shrugged. “I’m not the one voting,” he said. Deep down, those around him say, he wanted the award. And he believed he earned it.

An early April hamstring injury effectively ended Dončić’s campaign. This season he has come roaring back. Dončić’s numbers are staggering: 38.3 points, eight rebounds, 8.1 assists. He has 40-plus points in four of his seven games this season. He has scored at least 37 in five. On Monday, after Dončić scored 42 in a win over Miami, Giannis Antetokounmpo declared Dončić one of the best scorers in basketball. Not this season, Antetokounmpo clarified, “Of all time.”

Dončić’s skills as a scorer are nothing new, of course. He’s averaged at least 27 points per game since his second season, shredding defenders for 6 1/2 seasons in Dallas and the parts of three with the Lakers. He collected All-NBA first team selections (six of them), All-Star nods (same) and led the league in scoring, twice. Before Monday’s game, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra was asked for a strategy to slow Dončić. “There’s not going to be two defenders on him, or even three,” said Spoelstra. “You’re pretty much going to go through your entire roster of different looks.”

What is new, at least for now, is Dončić’s defense, or at least his commitment to it. On Sunday, Dončić scored 45 points against Toronto. More impressively, he pulled down 15 defensive rebounds. He collected five steals. He took three charges. He blocked a shot. The Lakers were a +27 when Dončić was on the floor. No other player was better than +14.

“I think a lot of times you can just be agog at his offensive prowess,” said J.J. Redick. “And watching some of the tape [from Sunday] and even during the game, I think our guys were agog at his defense. It was awesome. It was inspiring. I really mean that.”

Added Dončić, “Obviously, I'm not the best defender in the NBA, but I think this year, I really took a step forward. Obviously, people are going to talk what they want to talk [about] me. But I know, and my team knows, that I'm better this year.”

Equally important to Dončić’s MVP candidacy: The Lakers are winning. L.A. is 6–2 to start the season. They are second in the NBA in points per game and offensive rating and in the top-10 in net rating. The starting lineup has a league-best 135.5 offensive rating among five-man groups that have played at least 40 minutes together. When Dončić is on the floor, the Lakers are outscoring opponents by 113 points.

About that lineup: Austin Reaves is thriving as Dončić’s sidekick. Walker Kessler, the Lakers’ big offseason acquisition, is averaging a double-double while shooting 71.4% from the floor. Matisse Thybulle and Ziaire Williams have been two-way contributors on the wings.

“There’s no egos,” said Williams.

Said Redick, “This team can become a great team.”

This is what Dončić believed last August, when he sipped a macchiato at a rooftop bar in Ljubljana and talked confidently about the Lakers chances. Dončić doesn’t keep notes on opposing players. But he clocks the ones he would like to play with. Kessler, the wide-bodied 7-footer, was one. “He's so tall, but then also he's very fast for a tall guy and he can roll really good,” said Dončić. “He can just put it up there, he can dunk it. And he's very active.” Three-and-D wings like Thybulle and Williams are others.

Certainly, there are areas to clean up. The bench output has been anemic, ranking in the bottom third and getting outscored by more than 12 points per game. The rebounding stinks. Last week they coughed up a 25-point lead in a loss to the Warriors. On Sunday, Redick was forced to send in the starters late after the second unit nearly gagged away a double-digit lead in the final minutes. Defensively, the Lakers rank in the back half of the league in rating and points allowed. Dončić and Reaves, meanwhile, are averaging nearly 10 turnovers per game.

“We are gonna be patient,” said Redick. “There’s also, along with patience, doing what you’re supposed to do. And I think as we play more games together, we do more walkthroughs together, we watch more film together, do more practices together, that will all get better.”

For now, the Lakers will keep leaning into Dončić and his ability to “bend the defense,” Redick said. MVP’s are not crowned in the first month and Dončić can’t win as a one-dimensional player, not with Victor Wembanyama lurking and two-time MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander still churning out numbers. He will need to continue the defensive effort. He will have to leave referees alone. And he will have to keep the Lakers in the top half of a conference with standings that can shake up week after week.

The Lakers need an MVP version of Dončić to be successful.

And make no mistake, Dončić wants to be MVP.

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