Luka Dončić

April 9, 2025’s spectacle against his former team might’ve began with heartfelt embraces and teardrops, but as is often the case with Luka Dončić, the forecast also called for 45-point rainstorms and almost-one-of-a-kind offense along the way. The recipe towards becoming just league history’s second-ever player to score 45+ for and against the same franchise in a single season was one that the Dallas Mavericks’ still-stunned crowd had come to know all too well over Dončić’s 472-game Texas reign. 3-point buckets — some built through immaculate footwork, others through mere spot-ups — crafty, almost “HORSE”-like shots around the rim, and ultimately, a final quarter takeover that vanquished any chance Dallas had of an upset. In what settled among 2024-25’s most-watched non-Christmas Day games, Dončić, through mixed emotions, treated fans of every allegiance to a 45-point, eight-rebound, six-assist, four-steal masterpiece in the Los Angeles Lakers’ victory. Paired with superb efficiency overall (16-of-28) and from downtown (7-of-10), Dončić again reaffirmed his status as a big-stage performer, eventually helping catapult L.A. to the No. 3 seed in the soon-arriving 2025 NBA Playoffs.