The NBA All-Star Game has been headlined by LeBron James each of the last 21 seasons, but this year marked the passing of the torch to his Los Angeles Lakers teammate Luka Doncic, who led the NBA in total All-Star voting this season.
Following their 115-107 win over the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday, one of the Lakers' biggest wins of the season coming back from down 16 points, James had heady praise for Doncic in James' first time not being named an All-Star starter in decades.
"Shoutout Luka. Leading vote-getter in the All-Star Game. It was dope seeing that patch on his jersey tonight, well-deserved," James said in his postgame walk-off interview.
Doncic received over 3.4 million fan votes when voting was all said and done, garnering nearly 500,000 more votes than Nikola Jokic in the Western Conference and 200,000 more votes than Giannis Antetokounmpo received in the Eastern Conference.
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Doncic's MVP campaign
The 26-year-old isn't just going for his sixth All-Star appearance, he's vying for his first MVP award and is making a strong case.
Doncic is averaging 33.3 points (leads NBA), 7.5 rebounds and 8.6 assists (fourth in NBA) per game this season and has Los Angeles competing for a guaranteed playoff spot in the West.
The Lakers kickstarted their 8-game "Grammy" road trip against the Nuggets on Tuesday, the longest road trip Doncic has ever endured.
Although, the next game on the slate is "at" the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday.
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