Luka Doncic arrived for his first news conference as a member of the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday and after days of public fat shaming you half expected him to show up looking like Peter Griffin. Barrels of digital ink have been spilled explaining how the Dallas Mavericks were terrified of Doncic’s conditioning issues, that the idea of offering him a five-year, $345 million extension was so terrifying they felt the need to ship him out of town.
Luka, your response?
“I would say,” Doncic said, “I always take the high road.”
If Dallas’s news conference announcing the Doncic deal had a funereal vibe, this one felt like a celebration. Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka was all smiles when he sat down next to Doncic at the Lakers’ practice facility. He thanked his counterpart in Dallas, Nico Harrison, who “was very instrumental in bringing this opportunity to us.” He thanked his team owner Jeanie Buss, who eagerly signed off on adding the next in a long line of Lakers stars.
Said Pelinka, “I think Luka Doncic joining forces with the Los Angeles Lakers is a seismic event in NBA history.”
Hyperbole? Yes. Accurate? Probably. For generations stars have defined the Lakers. Jerry West and Magic Johnson. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant. Most recently, LeBron James. With James on his way out, L.A. landed a 25-year-old to replace him. In a global game, the Lakers landed one of the most popular athletes on the planet, one that Pelinka said is “going to get on the stage of the most popular and influential basketball brand on the globe.”
Sitting beside Pelinka, Doncic still looked a little shellshocked. He said he was “excited to start this new journey” while calling the opportunity to play alongside James “a dream come true.” He admitted it was “really hard” to learn he had been traded. “Two days ago [felt like] one month,” Doncic said. Of Dallas’s decision to trade him, Doncic said, “They made the decision. I don’t know why, but that’s their decision.”
That was as far as Doncic was willing to go about the organization that jettisoned him. He looked bewildered when a Dallas-area reporter asked if he had given the Mavs any indication that he would not have signed a super-max extension. “Absolutely not,” Doncic said. He said he didn’t believe the deal was real when he was first alerted to it—“I had to check if it was April 1,” Doncic said—and that any criticism of his conditioning will only fuel him moving forward.
“I know it’s not true,” Doncic said. “But it’s a [motivation]. I came here to one of the biggest clubs in [the] history of sports, so it’s a big [motivation] for a long run here.”
Pelinka kept a poker face throughout the 30-minute news conference. But inside he had to be giddy. Luka Doncic? Anthony Davis is a great player, Max Christie is a nice prospect and, hey, who knows what that 2029 first-round pick is going to look like. But this is Luka Doncic. Of the 30 teams in the NBA, 29 make the same deal.
Pelinka gets that. He knows he just hit the basketball lottery. On Tuesday, Pelinka shed some light on how the deal came together. Talks began weeks ago over coffee in Dallas, with Pelinka and Harrison, connected through Kobe Bryant (Pelinka used to represent Bryant, Harrison worked with him as an exec with Nike), working through the details. They agreed to keep the talks secret—an arrangement that greatly benefitted the Lakers—before ultimately closing the deal last weekend.
“I can’t think of a more amazing starting point to build a roster for the next decade,” Pelinka said. “And I know he has the drive to win that we have here. Our fans are going to see that every night on the court. I know up here he might seem calm and casual and quiet, but we know the alter ego comes out.”
James knows. Standing at his locker after the Lakers’ win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday, James addressed the deal for the first time. He said his “emotions were all over the place” after the deal. A man who often says he has seen everything admitted that a deal like this was “something I haven’t seen before.” But he called Doncic his “favorite player” and said he believes the transition will be seamless.
“[We can be] whatever we want it to be,” James said. “It won’t take long. I can play with anybody, and I think he can as well. So we’ll work well together.”
There likely will be a transition period. Lakers coach JJ Redick built an offense around Davis this season. Reshaping one around a ball-dominant guard like Doncic will take time. Even with Davis, one of the league’s premiere rim protectors, L.A. struggled defensively. Without him, there could be some ugly nights.
On Tuesday, Pelinka sounded prepared for them. He knows the roster has holes. And the Lakers intend to be aggressive in pursuit of a big man before Thursday’s trade deadline. “At the same time, you have to be realistic,” Pelinka said. “If there’s not a championship big on the market right now, I can’t wave a wand and create that opportunity.”
James sounded willing to be patient, too. As great as James is—and during this recent stretch, where the Lakers have won nine of the last 11, James has been brilliant—there’s a clock on his career. In the immediate aftermath of the Doncic deal there was speculation that James might be open to being moved. James, though, said he had no issue with L.A. making a deal with an eye toward the future.
“What’s wrong with that?” James asked. “If I had concerns about it, I’d waive my no-trade clause. Get up out of here … I’m here right now. I’m committed to the Lakers organization. I’m here to help Luka and Maxi [Kleber] make the transition as smooth as possible … as a leader of the team, as one of the captains of the team, it’s my job to make it as seamless as possible.”
A new era in Los Angeles began this week, the Doncic era. As great as the Davis-James pairing was, the Lakers weren’t winning another title with the roster they had around them. They may not win with Doncic and James, either, but with Doncic they have unlocked new possibilities for the future. Dallas had its doubts about Doncic. The Lakers have none.
This article was originally published on www.si.com as The Lakers’ Luka Doncic Era Begins.
