The second, California. – The media collected, the giants of the Lakers and others who expect the new superstar of Los Angeles talked, speculated and whispered. “Are Lebron here?”
Some wondered if everything had also come to take it until, suddenly, everything was silent. Luka Doncic appeared, with a surprised appearance, with gray pants and a light gray sweater with a white collar that looked below. Rob Pelinka, the general manager of the Lakers, flanked it, his vertiginous smile of 1000 watts is very different from the apparent confusion of Luka.
Only the sound of the phones and cameras by clicking, the sneakers chirriad on the Los Angeles practice floor and the expectation of the questions of Hold Your-Sraath of the questions, there are so many, this shocking and sudden change pointed.
“There are many people here,” Doncic said after sitting. “I don’t think there have been so many people at my press conference.”
Nor both to try to understand a trade of this magnitude. When the news appeared during the weekend that a three team agreement was sending Anthony Davis from Los Angeles to Dallas and Doncic here, he needed to be understood.
Here are some early conclusions that stood out from the almost 30 minutes session, one of the first opportunities to understand what all this of their key players means how they fit into a puzzle whose pieces still begin to fit together:
- This is now Luka’s team, not LeBron’s.
- The Lakers focus on building around Luka in the long term, and not necessarily around a Luka-Lebron tandem, at least not with the type of urgency that LeBron would probably demand.
- Doncic insisted that he had no idea of this exchange and did not play any role in the movement.
- LeBron James, which was No There, it seemed a secondary thought: a rare reality for a player who has always been the most overwhelming presence of his team, physically present or not.
There is still much to understand, and this press conference offered more clues to try to do so. One of the most important questions is still if LeBron James had a voice in trade or anticipated warning, and what will tell us about Your current status with the Lakers.
On that front, LeBron’s only mention came from questions raised by a ESPN reporter, and Luka’s serious praise to his new teammate.
“It’s like a dream come true,” Doncic said about associating with The goat. “I always admired him. There are so many things that I can learn from him. I am very excited to learn from him and play with him. It’s an incredible feeling.”
But Pelinka did not talk about LeBron once, at one time referring to “the other people who are also in our team at this time.”
No, we can’t expect LeBron Play with Luka.
No, matching with Luka And LeBron It is extraordinary.
No, we are even aware LeBron James It is still in this team.
No. LeBron seemed to have been relegated to “the other people” who now play with a “player in the first three in the universe.”
That feeling seemed to be beaten at home because of the clear message that the Lakers, although they would like to win now, see this movement as a long -term play. And that the short term, also known as LeBron’s remaining window, is no longer the priority.
LeBron also has a player option this summer, a critical detail if he really did not know about this exchange in advance, and if the Lakers still wanted to avoid being frustrated enough or feeling sufficiently disrespectful to go up and leave.
Instead, Pelinka referred to the arrival of Luka as a “starting point” for the Lakers, no, it is still worth pointing out again, an addition to a team that has already LeBron James in it.
“It’s a gift,” Pelinka said about Luka the Laker. “We are talking about a 25 -year -old who is one of the three best players in the universe. I can’t think of a more surprising starting point to build a list during the next decade.”
Or this: “We want to format a team that adjusts to the training style of JJ (Redick) and the strengths (from Luka) and need to help us win a championship with the other people who are also in our team at this time that they are going to be a large part of that. ”
Pelinka several times also supported the expectations of winning a title now, recognizing that with the Lakers “there is always an urgency to win championships” while making it clear that the focus is in the long term.
“At the same time you must be realistic. If there is no large championship in the market at this time, I cannot greet a wand and create that opportunity,” he said, referring to the lack of a reliable center of the.
Luka, throughout this, also went to his departure from Dallas.
When asked about his feelings towards decision makers in Dallas, Docnic said: “That is his decision, so I have no comments about it. They made that decision and I don’t know why.”
Luka was also asked about concerns that I might want to leave Dallas when his contract expired in 2026, something CBS Sports had heard as a possibility And that the general manager of the MAVs, Nico Harrison, danced around Sunday at his own press conference, saying: “There are some unique things about his contract that we had to pay attention, there were other teams that were loaded, he went to have to make your own decision.
When asked if he or someone in his intimate circle had indicated that he might not sign the Supermax (with a value of approximately $ 345 million) in Dallas, Doncic said: “Absolutely not.”
Doncic also insisted that he was surprised by the trade and did not see him coming, saying: “I thought I was going to play my entire career there.”
But the young star also hugged the idea of being in Los Angeles, using purple and gold, and trying to win a championship with her new team.
And now that he is a Laker and not a MAV, Pelinka and those who are in power in Los Angeles are completely focused on the Doncic game The rest From his career here.
If that happens, and Luka still has his own player who is coming in the summer of 2026, his new team made clear on Tuesday that his plan is to build everything around him.
And most likely not around the co -star so remarkably absent, in person and in general, of the official introduction of the new face of the Los Angeles Lakers.