Skip Bayless' Lakers-Luka Doncic Comment Draws Major Backlash

The Los Angeles Lakers fell into an 0–2 hole on Friday night after losing Game 2 to the Oklahoma City Thunder, once again without leading scorer Luka Doncic, who remains sidelined after suffering an injury on April 2.

However, Skip Bayless sparked major backlash during a Friday morning appearance on ESPN's First Take with a controversial claim that the Lakers are actually a better team on both ends of the floor without Doncic.

"The Los Angeles Lakers are a better, both ends of the floor, basketball team without Luka," Bayless said. "What are my issues with Luka? He is the most inefficient player in the league and it ain't even close."

Bayless went on to argue that while Doncic is a high-volume scorer, he also leads the league in usage rate and turnovers, and dominates possessions in a way that slows the Lakers' offense.

"Yes, he will lead the league in scoring, but he's going to lead the league in usage rate, he's going to lead the league in turnovers, he's going to lead the league in shot attempts, in threes attempted, in free throws attempted, and he dominates the basketball so much that with him, the Lakers offense that moved the ball beautifully last night and created a lot of open threes, he generates just a lot of standing around," Bayless said.

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“Yep this should be the last time he gets on tv he isn't good at this and needs to retire asap,” a fan said.

Someone else added, “This is the type of stuff that gets told on TV.”

Another person wrote, “Yeah Skip, that's probably why the Lakers are down 0-2 against OKC right now too. Clearly removing Luka from the lineup unlocked championship basketball.”

“sometimes you just have to laugh,” one more fan commented.

Doncic led the NBA in scoring this season, averaging 33.5 points per game, and with him in the lineup, the Lakers were firmly in the mix for the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

So to suggest the Lakers are better without him is a major stretch, especially given their biggest issue in this series against the Thunder has been generating consistent offense. Los Angeles has scored just 90 and 107 points in the first two games, a clear area where Doncic's scoring and playmaking presence would likely make a significant difference.

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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 10:33 AM.