Los Angeles Lakers executives Rob Pelinka and Jeanie Buss made the journey to Poland to help their star guard, Luka Doncic, in his worldwide play for Slovenia in EuroBasket. Slovenia begins group play within the quadrennial European championship on Thursday, and the Lakers’ basic supervisor and proprietor stopped by Wednesday’s apply forward of Dončić’s event opener.
The go to is an obvious present of solidarity with Dončić, who tasks as the way forward for the Lakers’ franchise with LeBron James seemingly getting into the ultimate phases of his tenure in Los Angeles. When James retires, or if he elects to complete his illustrious profession elsewhere, he’ll hand the keys over to a different one of many sport’s largest superstars.
The Lakers’ long-term dedication to Dončić turned all of the clearer this month once they signed him to a contract extension, retaining him on the town by means of at the least 2027 and probably into 2028 if he picks up his participant possibility. It’s a three-year, $165 million deal that got here simply six months into his stint with the Lakers.
Pelinka’s and Buss’ attendance at EuroBasket additionally clearly signifies the Lakers’ help of Dončić taking part within the event, which is notable given the damage scare he sustained in exhibition play. The 26-year-old limped off the court docket in an Aug. 16 recreation towards Nice Britain with what was later identified as a knee contusion. A teammate fell into his legs and knocked him to the bottom in a collision that thankfully regarded worse than it was.
Dončić didn’t have the identical help from his earlier entrance workplace. Dallas Mavericks basic supervisor Nico Harrison shockingly shipped him to the Lakers final season in one of the vital puzzling trades in NBA historical past and cited issues over Dončić’s well being and conditioning when pressed concerning the resolution, which was wildly unpopular amongst Mavs followers.
The commerce labored out fairly effectively for the Lakers, who proceeded to win the Pacific Division and lock up the No. 3 seed within the playoffs following their beautiful acquisition. Dončić was as efficient along with his new group as he was in Dallas, as he averaged almost an identical marks in factors (28.1 in Dallas / 28.2 in L.A.), rebounds (8.3 / 8.1) and assists (7.8 / 7.5) as he did with the Mavericks within the first half of the season. The five-time All-Star was terrific within the playoffs, too, regardless of the Lakers’ first-round exit.
Dončić is without doubt one of the quite a few NBA stars set to take part in EuroBasket. Nikola Jokić represents Serbia, Giannis Antetokounmpo is again in his Greece uniform and Kristaps Porziņġis headlines the Latvia roster, to call just some of the opposite execs who will compete for worldwide glory.
