LeBron James Makes Major Luka Doncic Confession Amid Kobe Bryant Comparison

Luka Doncic is off to a start that’s hard to ignore. Through nine games, the Lakers star is averaging 38.5 points, 8.1 rebounds and 8.0 assists, and he just scored 40 or more for the third straight game as Los Angeles improved to 7-2. Numbers like that bring big comparisons, and this week, Doncic got two of the biggest.

Kendrick Perkins called him the closest thing to Kobe Bryant among the league’s young stars. Then, on the same night, Doncic responded to that comparison, LeBron James, now with the Philadelphia 76ers, named his former teammate as one of his favorite players in the league.

Speaking on the Road Trippin’ podcast, Perkins said the similarity is not in Doncic’s game but in his mentality.

"Why? Because he don't give a damn," Perkins said. "And when I say don't give a damn, he don't give a damn honestly, what his teammates how they feel about him when they're on the floor. It's not a shot that he don't love or don't think that he can't make, and he can make them. And on top of that, you have to have the kahunas, the onions to be able to perform and not give a damn on the stage like LA, because we all know it's certain cities that come with so much pressure, and you got to have the I don't give a attitude."

“He’s the closest thing to Kobe, not game-wise, mentality-wise, out of all the young guys that I done seen,” Perkins added.

Doncic heard about it after the Lakers’ 116-103 win over the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday, his 100th game with the team.

"It's a lot of honor," he said. "I think we all know who Kobe was, you know, what he meant to everybody, especially basketball-wise. He was an idol for a lot of people, so it means a lot that I'm mentioned next to his name."

Doncic, just before that, had backed up the comparison on the court. Doncic scored 40 points that night, his sixth straight game with at least 35, making him only the third Laker to do that, after Bryant and Elgin Baylor.

On the same night, his former Lakers teammate, LeBron James, had his own praise for Doncic. After the 76ers’ 112-106 win over the Detroit Pistons, James was asked about Cade Cunningham and brought up his former Lakers teammate.

"I love the big guard, the big guard that can do multiple things. That’s why I love Luka as well," James said. "Always stated that Luka and Cade are two of my favorite players, guys that can just do multiple things on the floor, and it’s great to see where Cade is today. And yes, we have a really good relationship."

James knows Doncic’s game as well as anyone. The two played together in Los Angeles for about a season and a half, from the February 2025 trade that brought Doncic to the Lakers until James left for Philadelphia last summer.

Perkins' framing wasn't really about shot selection or Mamba Mentality as a slogan. It was about a specific kind of self-belief, a willingness to shoot through a cold stretch or a disapproving teammate without flinching, that he argues separates Doncic from other young stars who second-guess themselves under pressure.

James didn’t weigh in on the Kobe comparison. But between Perkins’ praise, James calling him one of his favorite players and Doncic’s own scoring run, it was a week that put the Lakers star in some very elite company.