EL SEGUNDO — Luka Doncic owned it: He was staring at his phone in disbelief, as shocked he had been traded as the rest of us.
“I was almost asleep, so when I got a call, I had to check it was, [if] it was April 1,” Doncic joked at Tuesday’s introductory press conference. “I didn’t really believe it at first. It was a big shock. It was hard moments for me. It [Dallas] was home. So it was really hard moments for me, especially the first day.”
Now he is a Los Angeles Laker with a chip on his shoulder playing next to LeBron James — the rest of the league is on notice.
“Win the championship. You don’t come here for nothing else but championships,” Doncic said, sitting on the Lakers practice court under replicas of the 17 championship banners that hang in Crypto.com Arena. “I have everything left to prove, so, and the goal is to win the championship.”
When Will Doncic play?
It sounds as if Doncic could be on the court by this weekend. He has been out since Christmas with a calf strain but, even before the trade, was reportedly near a return. Lakers GM Rob Pelinka confirmed Doncic’s status.
“We have five-on-five scheduled [Wednesday] for Luka, and we’re going to take it one day at a time, just to make sure that the calf injury is in a good and safe place,” Pelinka said. “So I would truly say at this point he’s day-to-day … but if all those days go well, and Luka feels good and confident, he’ll be in a game soon.”
A shorthanded Lakers team without Doncic or Anthony Davis will face the Clippers on Tuesday night at the Intuit Dome.
Doncic on his conditioning
Doncic shot down the on-its-face ridiculous spin out of Dallas that he might have turned down a $345 million supermax extension from the team — “absolutely not” was how he phrased it.
Doncic said he didn’t understand why he was traded, but on a day he was low-key (as he often is in interviews), the one time you saw a little of the fire in his eyes was discussing Dallas’ spin after the trade that his conditioning and supermax contract where what drove the trade.
“That’s their decision, so I have no comment on that. They made the decision. I don’t know why, but that’s the decision, so I can do nothing about it…
“I thought I was going to spend my whole career there, because I think loyalty is a big word for me, and I was trying to stay by that,” Doncic said. “But this, for me, is your fresh start. I get to play in L.A., the fans are amazing, and I got the ocean here. … I’m really excited to be here and getting to play for the Lakers, not everybody can say that. And many, many legends pass [through] here, many, many championships. So that’s my goal.”
As for Doncic’s conditioning, his Mavericks-now-Lakers teammate Markieff Morris (also part of the trade) put it best.
“If you can go out on an NBA court and get 35/15/10 like it’s nothing, then I don’t know what ‘in shape’ is,” Morris said.
Doncic also addressed concerns about his defense.
“I think this year I really stepped it up, honestly, and it’s just being more active, more vocal,” Doncic said. “I think I did a step ahead this year, but I need to do more steps ahead, so that’s what I’m planning.”
Doncic and the Lakers brand
Doncic’s appreciation of the Lakers brand starts with Kobe Bryant.
” I remember the exact moment that it happened,” Doncic said. “It always stayed, you know, in my mind, it was an amazing moment — just for Kobe to know my name was amazing for me. And, you know, I just wish Kobe and Gigi were here to see this moment.”
Doncic and LeBron James have had a mutual admiration society, which started to become more personal after the trade.
“[James] called me right away,” Doncic said. “He was in New York, so he called me right away, and we didn’t talk much because he said, ‘I understand what you’re feeling.’ But that was really nice of him, just to call me right away and welcome it to L.A. …
“Just like the dream come true,” Doncic added about playing with LeBron. “I always look up to him. There’s so many things I can learn from him. And I’m just excited just to learn everything, I get to play with him. So it’s an amazing feeling…
“I think we both make our teammates better. I think our IQ is very high, so I think that’s going to help everybody.”
What Doncic could mean for the Lakers on the court is more banners in the coming years, but it could be bigger off the court.
“We have a 25-year-old global superstar that’s going to get on the stage of the most popular and influential basketball brand on the globe,” Pelinka said. “And I think when those two powerful forces come together, it brings basketball joy to the world, because that’s how Luka plays. He plays with joy.”
How the trade came together
Pelinka confirmed that it all started with a coffee in Dallas between old friends — Pelinka was Kobe’s agent while now-Mavericks GM Nico Harrison was his Nike agent.
“So this all started with the coffee in Dallas, where Nico approached us with the concept, and because there was a partnership and a history of traveling the world between Nico and myself working around Kobe Bryant,” Pelinka said. “There was a fabric of trust in the discussions.”
Pelinka continued: “When the concept was initially introduced to us, it was, ‘Hey, the only way we can even have these discussions was if it’s between owner and GMs,’ and there was a commitment to that. And if we broke that commitment by talking to anyone else, this day would never happen. … I called [Lakers owner] Jeanie [Buss] after the coffee in Dallas and brought her in immediately, as I do with everything, her and I have a really strong working relationship.”
“There were so many complicated things we had: The Mavericks are hard capped at the first apron, the Lakers are up against the second apron. There’s trade kickers. There’s going to be a third team that’s going to have [to come in]. So my gears were turning about the deal the same way [Doncic’s] basketball mind is processing a play.”
Doncic’s mind will be processing those plays now in a No. 77 jersey in purple and gold.
Read the full article here