Plaschke: Luke Doncic joins Lakers with bad baggage … and that’s a good thing

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Luka Doncic, right, speaks to reporters after general manager Rob Pelinka, left, introduced him as the newest Laker. (Christina House / Los Angeles Times)

He’s fat. He’s lazy. He can’t stay healthy.

“It’s a motive,” said Luka Doncic. “I know it’s not true. I know. But it’s a motive … it’s a big motive for a long run here.”

He can’t play defense. He’s a bad investment. He’ll never reach his potential.

“That’s their decision so I have no comment on that,” said Doncic. “They made a decision. I don’t know why. So, but, that’s their decision so I can’t do nothing about it.”

You could hear the hurt. You could see the pain. When the Lakers newest superstar showed up in El Segundo Tuesday morning, the handshakes and hugs could not mask a scowl and a chip.

Doncic arrives clearly wounded. He arrives staggered under heaps of awkward baggage. He arrives unlike any incoming Lakers star in franchise history — he is only here because his former team pushed him out.

Read more: ‘Imagine how I felt’: Luka Doncic surprised he was traded to Lakers

Think about that. He was only traded here for Anthony Davis because the Dallas Mavericks didn’t think he was worth the trouble. The team that employed him for his seven-year NBA career, the people that knew him best, didn’t want him anymore.

There were whispers of conditioning concerns, durability issues and the worry that he wouldn’t be worth the giant contract he was eligible to sign this summer. But no matter what the reasoning, the messaging was undeniable.

Bottom line: The Mavericks kicked Luka Doncic to the curb.

And as much as general manager Rob Pelinka tried to make Doncic feel wanted during the kid’s initial Lakers news conference, Doncic still showed up as damaged goods, one of the league’s five best players toting an obliterated ego and a dazed stare.

“You can imagine how surprised I was,” Doncic said of the trade. “I was almost asleep, so when I got a call, I had to check if it was April 1st. I didn’t really believe it at first and it was a big shock. It was a hard moment for me. It was home. It was really hard moments…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/plaschke-luke-doncic-joins-lakers-230930866.html

Author : LA Times

Publish date : 2025-02-04 23:09:00

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