Luka as A.I.

No, not that AI.

A.I. as in Allen Iverson. Luka reminds me of no one so much as The Answer. Why?

The scoring, for one. The sheer one-man offensive showcase of any given night, no matter the schedule, no matter the opponent, no matter what he happened to be doing the night before.

And that’s another thing. Iverson famously didn’t watch what he ate, liked to have a good time, didn’t focus on conditioning or diet or getting a good night sleep. He might have a milkshake and stay up all night partying and then still drop forty on his opponent the next game.

There’s also the (un)likeability component. Each man is who he is, take him or leave him. And just as when Iverson was playing, there are haters, but wow are there diehard Luka fans. An entire city mourned his departure—just as Philly did when A.I. was traded to Denver.

Then there’s the winning. Iverson more or less singlehandedly took the Sixers to the Finals in 2001 and with 48 points beat the unbeatable Lakers in Game 1. You could make the case that, like Jerry West in 1969, he should have won Finals MVP as a member of the losing team!

So with Luka. Doubt his defense, doubt his conditioning, complain about his complaining, call him a baby—but the man just keeps on winning. He made it to the Western Finals, took a year off, then put the Mavs on his back and took them to the Finals against the Celtics in 2024. And now all of a sudden he’s doing it again with the Lakers. They may not make a deep playoff run, but if somehow they did, I’d believe it.

That’s because he’s Iverson 2.0. Luka is the Slovenian A.I.