{"id":130578,"date":"2025-03-24T19:36:55","date_gmt":"2025-03-24T23:36:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=130578"},"modified":"2025-03-24T19:36:55","modified_gmt":"2025-03-24T23:36:55","slug":"lakers-luka-doncic-born-be-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/03\/24\/lakers-luka-doncic-born-be-los-angeles\/","title":{"rendered":"Lakers Star &#8216;Born To Be&#8217; In Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Pandemonium ensued after the Los Angeles Lakers completed a blockbuster trade agreement for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/d\/doncilu01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Luka Doncic<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Now that nearly two months have passed since the Dallas Mavericks made what many fear to be a disastrous decision, many people are still talking about it, including Mavs point guard <a href=\"https:\/\/www.basketball-reference.com\/players\/i\/irvinky01.html\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Kyrie Irving<\/a> and Mavs former majority owner Mark Cuban. However, like Apollo and Dionysus, Irving and Cuban represent two sides of the same coin.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Kyrie Irving speaks on injuries and Luka trade <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/kEumSEBdA3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/kEumSEBdA3<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 nico Harrison (@Jsmooth298) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Jsmooth298\/status\/1903614470829568156?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 23, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Both are dismayed by the trade, as much because of their personal relationship with Doncic as the loss of a phenomenal talent.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Mark Cuban on the Luka Doncic trade:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI don\u2019t get it either.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Va <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KirkSeriousFace?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">@KirkSeriousFace<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/RRC1TiwaPi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/RRC1TiwaPi<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 NBA Retweet (@RTNBA) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/RTNBA\/status\/1903154099086066113?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 21, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Irving is trying to move past the deal. Cuban &#8230; well, he&#8217;s not. This is but a microcosm of the Mavericks fan base as a whole.<\/p>\n<h2>Lakers&#8217; Luka Doncic &#8216;Born To Be&#8217; In Los Angeles<\/h2>\n<p>While the Mavs try to shake back after having the life sucked out of them, the Lakers are trying to build their momentum as well.<\/p>\n<p>Unlike Dallas, L.A. isn&#8217;t dealing with a fall out as the aftermath of the trade. Davis&#8217;s contributions were appreciated; he helped lead them to a championship after all. Nonetheless, Doncic&#8217;s blend of youth, popularity, and ability have allowed him to eclipse the 10-time All-Star.<\/p>\n<p>With that being said, the Lakers are now 11-6 with Doncic. In that time, he&#8217;s been quite the volume producer, averaging 26.9 points, 8.7 rebounds, 7.9 assists, and 1.5 steals per game. Yet, he&#8217;s not completely in rhythm, shooting 36.3 percent from 3 but 41.3 percent from the field.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">\ud83d\udea8 LAKERS HIGHLIGHTS \ud83d\udea8<\/p>\n<p>\ud83e\udd2f Luka Don\u010di\u0107 has surpassed all Lakers<br \/>\nguards since Kobe Bryant in 2013 for the<br \/>\nmost 30 PT games in a Single Season\u2755<\/p>\n<p>\ud83e\ude84 32 MINS<br \/>\n\ud83e\ude84 31 PTS<br \/>\n\ud83e\ude84 9 REBS<br \/>\n\ud83e\ude84 7 ASTS<br \/>\n\ud83e\ude84 3 STKS<br \/>\n\ud83e\ude84 4 3PM<\/p>\n<p>\ud83d\udc9c\ud83d\udc9b <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/LakeShow?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">#LakeShow<\/a><br \/>\n<a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nEmwk9ATPy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/nEmwk9ATPy<\/a> <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/UQaYCfwDiB\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">https:\/\/t.co\/UQaYCfwDiB<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 LAVE (@TheLakersAve) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TheLakersAve\/status\/1902613334685323720?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 20, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>In the short-term, he needs to balance resting and continuing to work himself back into form after missing two months with a calf injury. However, there&#8217;s no doubt about his ability to lead the Lakers long-term.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s a good thing that Doncic &#8220;was born to be in Los Angeles,&#8221; according to his father.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Luka\u2019s Dad, Sa\u0161a Don\u010di\u0107:<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLuka was born to be in Los Angeles. This city is made for him and it fits well with his character. I believe he\u2019ll succeed here.\u201d \ud83d\udd25 <a  href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/qdc3PeE3kJ\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">pic.twitter.com\/qdc3PeE3kJ<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Jake (@playoffjake) <a  href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/playoffjake\/status\/1904232541185528091?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">March 24, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;This city is made for him and it fits well with his character,&#8221; Sasa Doncic adds. &#8220;I believe he&#8217;ll succeed here.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>Heir Apparent<\/h3>\n<p>Doncic doesn&#8217;t <em>have<\/em> to sign an extension with the Lakers. Still, the general consensus is that he will. His father&#8217;s comments only make the possibility more realistic.<\/p>\n<p>If the five-time All-Star does decide to stay in Hollywood, as opposed to <a href=\"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/02\/10\/nuggets-threat-steal-lakers-luka-doncic\/\" target=\"_blank\" target=\"_self\">going to the Mile High<\/a> for instance, he&#8217;ll be able to carry the torch for Los Angeles before the Olympic Games. With that in mind, when the Lakers acquired Doncic, part of their motivation was having a generational star to rely on after LeBron James retires. Though there&#8217;s been no official announcement, many people believe that 2025-26 will be his last season.<\/p>\n<p>After that, it&#8217;ll no longer be King James&#8217;s reign. It&#8217;ll be Luka&#8217;s magic show.<\/p>\n<div class=\"modal-image-setImageMetadata\">\n<p class=\"ng-binding\">\u00a9 Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Pandemonium ensued after the Los Angeles Lakers completed a blockbuster trade agreement for Luka Doncic. Now that nearly two months have passed since the Dallas Mavericks made what many fear to be a disastrous decision, many people are still talking about it, including Mavs point guard Kyrie Irving and Mavs former majority owner Mark Cuban. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5008,"featured_media":130583,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[26,1608,30,20,62],"tags":[406,38,1133,570,4975,297,4557,1382],"class_list":["post-130578","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lakers","category-basketball","category-mavericks","category-nuggets","category-nba","tag-kyrie-irving","tag-lebron-james","tag-luka-doncic","tag-mark-cuban","tag-nba-contracts","tag-nba-free-agency","tag-nba-offseason","tag-nba-trade"],"modified_by":"Quenton S Albertie","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130578","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5008"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=130578"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130578\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":130584,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/130578\/revisions\/130584"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/130583"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=130578"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=130578"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=130578"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}