Luka Dončić makes sure Lakers rookie gets a moment to remember after major milestone

Luka Doncic had already stuffed the stat sheet Monday night, but the Los Angeles Lakers superstar wasn’t finished dishing out assists.

His final one didn’t even count in the box score.

Following the Lakers’ 124-114 victory over the Atlanta Hawks, Doncic was spotted tracking down a referee to retrieve the game ball as players exchanged handshakes and pleasantries at the final buzzer.

The reason? Lakers rookie Cameron Carr had just scored the first points of his NBA career, and Doncic wanted to make sure his young teammate had a souvenir to remember the moment.

It was a small gesture from one of basketball’s biggest superstars, but one that spoke volumes about Doncic’s leadership on this new-look Lakers team without LeBron James.

With Austin Reaves sidelined on the second night of a back-to-back after erupting for 43 points Sunday in Detroit, Carr received seven minutes of playing time.

The rookie scored his first NBA basket on a breakaway dunk at the end of the first quarter, courtesy of an assist from Doncic, who apparently decided that helping Carr make history wasn’t enough. He wanted to preserve it, too.

Doncic finished with a ridiculous 32 points, 10 assists, eight rebounds, five steals and two blocks, becoming one of only 10 players in NBA history to record multiple games with at least 30 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals. This was Doncic’s fifth such game of his career.

After the game, Doncic was asked about grabbing the game ball for Carr.

“Yeah obviously you know you always wanna remember your first bucket, you know? And you wanna get that ball so it was kind of important for me to grab it,” said Doncic.

The victory improved Los Angeles to an NBA-best 10-2, its best start since the 2019-20 season, when the Lakers eventually captured their 17th NBA championship.

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