Luka Doncic 'Happy' To Be Part Of Lakers Organization After Having Time To Digest Trade
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For many people in the basketball world, it still doesn’t seem real that the Los Angeles Lakers traded for superstar guard Luka Doncic. The Lakers now have their face of the franchise for the next decade and someone who will hopefully bring more championships to the organization.
The deal itself was an absolute shock, even to Doncic himself who felt that he would be with the Dallas Mavericks for his entire career. Doncic has spoken about the initial shock he experienced, but now that that has worn off, he has fully embraced being part of the Lakers.
“I’m happy to be here, man,” Doncic said after a recent loss to the Charlotte Hornets. “This is one of the greatest clubs in the world. Just happy to be here. Like I said, obviously I’m gonna need some time but I’m happy to represent the Lakers.”
The Lakers are one of the premier franchises, not just in basketball, but in all of sports. It is a recognizable brand internationally and has always been home to some of the biggest stars in the history of the NBA. From Jerry West to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal, LeBron James. and now Doncic is the next in line to carry the torch.
Doncic felt that he would be with the Mavericks for a long time, if not his entire career. His rookie season coincided with the final year of Dirk Nowitzki, which basically served as a passing of the torch. The two still have a close relationship with Nowitzki even attending Doncic’s Lakers debut.
But playing for the Lakers is an entirely different situation than with any other basketball team on the planet and Doncic understands and embraces that. To play for, and win with, the Lakers is something that most could only dream of and for a competitor like Doncic, he now has the biggest stage to compete on and show he’s the best. As he noted, it will take some time for him to integrate and get more comfortable with his new team, but overall, Doncic is happy to be the face of the greatest basketball franchise in the world.
LeBron James preaches patience with Luka Doncic getting comfortable with Lakers
Joining the Lakers means Luka Doncic teaming up with LeBron James. The adjustment of two ball-dominant players figuring out how to play with each other, not to mention just learning all of the plays and schemes the Lakers employ takes some time and LeBron recently spoke about the need for a little bit of patience.
“It’s his third game since Christmas. And it’s his third game with us,” James said after the loss to the Hornets. “He still doesn’t know all the plays, he doesn’t know all of the defensive coverages, all the signals and things we’ve built since September. Obviously we’re trying to fast track it on the fly, he’s coming back from his injury, he’s getting back into form. So we’re all working through it together."
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