Luka Doncic was as surprised as the rest of us he was traded, talks future with LeBron, Lakers

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EL SEGUNDO — Luka Doncic owned it: He was staring at his phone in disbelief, as shocked he had been traded as the rest of us.

“I was almost asleep, so when I got a call, I had to check it was, [if] it was April 1,” Doncic joked at Tuesday’s introductory press conference. “I didn’t really believe it at first. It was a big shock. It was hard moments for me. It [Dallas] was home. So it was really hard moments for me, especially the first day.”

Now he is a Los Angeles Laker with a chip on his shoulder playing next to LeBron James — the rest of the league is on notice.

“Win the championship. You don’t come here for nothing else but championships,” Doncic said, sitting on the Lakers practice court under replicas of the 17 championship banners that hang in Crypto.com Arena. “I have everything left to prove, so, and the goal is to win the championship.”

When Will Doncic play?

It sounds as if Doncic could be on the court by this weekend. He has been out since Christmas with a calf strain but, even before the trade, was reportedly near a return. Lakers GM Rob Pelinka confirmed Doncic’s status.

“We have five-on-five scheduled [Wednesday] for Luka, and we’re going to take it one day at a time, just to make sure that the calf injury is in a good and safe place,” Pelinka said. “So I would truly say at this point he’s day-to-day … but if all those days go well, and Luka feels good and confident, he’ll be in a game soon.”

A shorthanded Lakers team without Doncic or Anthony Davis will face the Clippers on Tuesday night at the Intuit Dome.

Doncic on his conditioning

Doncic shot down the on-its-face ridiculous spin out of Dallas that he might have turned down a $345 million supermax extension from the team — “absolutely not” was how he phrased it.

Doncic said he didn’t understand why he was traded, but on a day he was low-key (as he often is in interviews), the one time you saw a little of the fire in his eyes was discussing Dallas’ spin after the trade that his conditioning and supermax contract where what drove the trade.

“That’s their decision, so I have no comment on that. They made the decision. I don’t know why, but that’s…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/luka-doncic-surprised-rest-us-191618461.html

Author : NBC Sports

Publish date : 2025-02-04 19:16:00

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