Walker Kessler Calls Luka Doncic the Best Player in the NBA After His Historic Night

Walker Kessler has seen enough. Twelve games into the season, the Lakers’ new center has crowned his teammate Luka Doncic the best player in the NBA, and he did it on a night when Doncic put his name past Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the franchise record book. The Lakers beat the Hawks 124-114 in Atlanta on Monday, and Doncic’s line, 32 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds, five steals and two blocks, was the second time in 10 games he has produced a combination no Laker has ever produced twice.

What did Walker Kessler actually say?

He said it plainly, twice. “Right now he’s the best player in the NBA,” Kessler said after the win, TalkBasket reports. “And I think he’ll be the MVP.” The New York Post carries the shorter version of the same declaration: “He’s the best player in the league.” Kessler then explained what he meant, and the explanation is more interesting than the label. “Even when he’s scoring 40, he’s still looking for guys,” he said. “He just impacts the game in every possible way.”

The timing matters. Kessler said it after a game in which Doncic’s run of four straight 40-point performances ended, and after a game in which Doncic missed Sunday’s win in Detroit with lower-back tightness. A teammate crowning him on a quieter night, by his standards, says more than a crown after a 50-point night would. Kessler is also the player who benefits most directly from playing with Doncic: the center finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds in Atlanta, and he credited the pick-and-roll partnership for it, Sporting News reports.

What record did Doncic just set?

The one that puts him past the two names every Lakers record has to pass. Doncic became the first player in franchise history to record multiple games with at least 30 points, five assists, five steals and two blocks, the New York Post reports. Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar each accomplished the feat once in a Lakers uniform. Doncic has now done it twice in his first 10 games this season.

He also climbed into 10th place all time for games featuring at least 30 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. The record is a two-way one, which is the point Kessler was making: the scoring is the headline, but the five steals and two blocks are what separate this line from a scoring night. Doncic’s 53-point night against Portland last week was the scoring peak of the run; the Atlanta line is the complete version of it.

How good has Doncic been this season?

The best scorer in the league by a clear margin, and the numbers are now historic rather than hot. Doncic leads the NBA with an average of 40.1 points per game, the New York Post reports, and the Lakers sit atop the standings at 10-2 with a six-game winning streak. The 40-point run ended in Atlanta, but the 30-point run did not: he has scored 30 or more in eight straight games.

The context is the roster around him. Austin Reaves carried the Lakers with 43 points in Detroit on Sunday while Doncic sat out, and on Monday the Lakers won again with Reaves out ill and Doncic back. The team has now won without its leading scorer and without its second scorer, in consecutive games, which is why Kessler’s declaration lands differently than a teammate hyping a star after a win. The record gives it weight. Doncic crossed Sabonis out of his shoe in the preseason opener, and the season has run on the same track ever since.

What did Kessler do in the game himself?

He had his own night, in his own city. Kessler finished with 21 points and 10 rebounds, TalkBasket reports, and both he and Collin Sexton are from Atlanta. “We’re both from Atlanta, so it was good,” Kessler said after the game. “It’s always good to be home and always good to get a win on the road.”

He also talked about the double-big lineups the Lakers have used with Sandro Mamukelashvili, who came off the bench for a season-high 23 points in Atlanta. “Being big, kind of trying to dominate the glass,” Kessler said of the pairing. “He’s also a great passer. He looks for other guys.” The Lakers cut Atlanta’s lead to four with under four minutes left before closing on a 9-3 run, and the bench supplied the answer while the stars supplied the record. The same road trip produced the other viral Lakers moment of the week, when Bronny James was held back after answering a courtside fan in Detroit.

Is the MVP race really a race?

Kessler thinks it is over, and he is not the only one saying so. Carmelo Anthony has named Doncic the MVP favorite for the season, Sporting News reports, and Kessler’s declaration makes it two public coronations in a week. The New York Post, which is not buying it yet, notes that Victor Wembanyama, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Jalen Brunson and Anthony Edwards might have a few objections, and adds the obvious counter: what else was Kessler supposed to say about his new pick-and-roll partner?

The case for Doncic is the record and the average. The case against him is the calendar: 12 games is a small sample, and the Lakers’ coach, JJ Redick, has said he does not get into MVP talks until the team is at least 50 games in. Kessler’s answer to that is the line itself: a player producing a franchise-first two-way stat line twice in 10 games is not a hot streak, it is a pattern, and the pattern is what the MVP vote rewards.

What happens next for the Lakers?

Milwaukee on Wednesday, TalkBasket reports, with the open question being whether Reaves returns from the illness that kept him out in Atlanta. The Lakers have won both games without Doncic and the one without Reaves, and the next test is whether the full group looks as good as the patched-together versions have. Doncic’s next record is also in view: every 30-point game extends the run, and every game like Atlanta’s adds another line to a list that already has Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on it once each.