Luka Doncic isn’t treating the Lakers’ spotlight like some new burden. He’s stepping into it like he’s been there before.
With LeBron James gone to the Philadelphia 76ers in NBA Free Agency, Los Angeles has moved straight into its next era without the usual rebuild. That’s the Luka Doncic era now, and the Slovenian star sounds perfectly comfortable carrying that kind of weight.
“I see myself in this role, nothing new. But it’s very important.
Everybody on the whole team, you know, looks up to me. I have to look up to them.
And it’s just … there should be many leaders, you know. You should be able to hold each other accountable,” the Lakers superstar declared.
That mindset fits Doncic’s path. He was the face of the Mavericks after Dirk Nowitzki retired, and now the same thing is happening in Los Angeles after James’ eight seasons with the team and the 2020 NBA championship that came with them.
The Lakers aren’t asking Doncic to ease into anything. They’re handing him the franchise and expecting him to drive it forward.
And they’ve backed that up with the roster. Doncic is on a $165 million, three-year deal through 2029, and the Lakers have built around him accordingly.
Walker Kessler was brought in to address the rebounding problem that can show up with a Doncic-led offense. JJ Redick has also added more shot creators instead of leaning only on pure three-point specialists.
Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, and Quentin Grimes all bring the ability to make their own shots and generate offense without needing Doncic to do everything. That’s a different build than the one Los Angeles used while James was on the roster, when the wings were stocked with three-and-D types.
Now the direction is clearer: this is a team being shaped around Doncic’s style, not forced into someone else’s. There are still schematic changes to sort through before the Lakers are fully his team, but the organization has already made its bet. If Rob Pelinka finishes building the long-term contender they want, the signs should be impossible to miss.
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Stephen Curry Kept This Lakers Loss From Feeling Like Just Preseason
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Curry helped make sure the night had some edge for the Lakers, too. He played 14 minutes and scored 16 points as Golden State rolled to a 124-98 win, giving the game a little more weight than a typical tune-up. The teams will meet again in the regular season on October 21, when the stakes will be real and the Lakers will get their first chance to respond. [Read more 🡒]