The Luka Era begins: inside the transformation powering the post-LeBron Lakers
Shipped out of Dallas and dropped into Hollywood, Dončić has responded with a leaner body, a louder voice and a growing command of the Lakers’ post-LeBron futureIt’s been nine and a half months since the trade that rocked the sports world was broken via a Shams Charania tweet that prompted the majority of the basketball news-breaker’s followers to assume he’d been hacked.Fresh off of a trip to the NBA finals, the young Slovenian superstar Luka Dončić was shipped off in the middle of the night to the Los Angeles Lakers for Anthony Davis, and the NBA as we know it was changed forever.The fallout from one of the most shocking trades in sports history is still evolving in real-time: disgraced Mavericks general manager Nico Harrison, who spearheaded the transaction, was let go by the team last week, in a move Mavericks fans have been loudly clamoring for since news broke that their homegrown franchise player was being abruptly cast to sea.But on the other side of the coin was a mixed blessing and a new beginning.But on the other side of the coin was a mixed blessing and a new beginning: Dončić, who had imagined spending his entire career in Dallas like mentor Dirk Nowitzki, suddenly found himself recast as the face of the NBA’s most iconic franchise under the bright lights of Hollywood.
And, as it turns out, the future is now.While Dončić’s breakup with the Mavericks was both very public and very messy (the team was not shy about vocalizing its reasoning for the move, and painting the 26-year-old in quite an unflattering light in the process), the silver linings showed themselves quickly.He might not have considered himself suited for the Los Angeles spotlight, but with his flair for the dramatic and a feel for the sport’s theater, playing for such a high-profile franchise proved an unexpectedly good fit.And it couldn’t have worked out better for the Lakers: the team had been staring down the barrel of an uncertain future, with the retirement of 40-year-old LeBron James looming, and Anthony Davis’ injury history creating a cloud of doubt around his ability to be the No 1 option in the eventual aftermath.Enter stage right: a ticket to franchise salvation, equipped with the newfound motivation that can only be borne from being publicly and mercilessly dragged through the mud.
Of course, James’s retirement has been far less imminent than anyone anticipated; his unprecedented longevity and level of play continue to shatter records and defy basketball logic,So instead of a passing of the torch, the months after Dončić’s midseason arrival looked more like a torch collaboration,But James’s bout with sciatica this summer, which sidelined him for the first month of the season and caused him to miss the first opening night of his 23-year career, brought about a dress rehearsal of sorts for the post-LeBron Lakers era,The roster remains a bit clunky, but Dončić is beginning to lean into his newfound leadership role – and those around him are convinced he’s the man for the job,And not only because his 34.
4 points per game lead the NBA by a wide margin,The Lakers are 10–4, fourth in the Western Conference behind only Oklahoma City, Denver and Houston, and the prospect of life after LeBron suddenly looks, well, not so scary after all,Dončić has always been special, and the brightest minds in the NBA have recognized it from the start,When the Miami Heat visit Los Angeles in early November, I ask Erik Spoelstra what he believes sets Dončić apart as a transcendent talent capable of carrying a franchise,“Just an incredible competitive spirit,” he tells me.
“I remember the first time I saw him play – I’ll never forget it.I went to watch Goran Dragić at EuroBasket, so I stopped by their training camp.Luka was 18, and everyone in the gym was stunned by how cerebral his game already was.He could make all the rotations, all the reads, just pick you apart.His fundamentals, his footwork, his skill level – all elite.
But more than anything, even then, he could rise to the level of competition.That’s what all the great ones do: competition brings out something most players can’t reach.”“Quiet” was the word Lakers guard Marcus Smart used to describe Dončić’s leadership style in the early days of the season, shortly after the former Defensive Player of the Year had logged his first few games with his new team.“He leads by example,” Smart said at the time.But something is starting to shift for Dončić, whose career-long approach to leadership has largely been, as Smart suggests, to be brilliant without saying much.
There’s a newfound maturity and commitment in Dončić’s approach this year, even if he still shows more youthful exuberance than almost anyone in the league.It became apparent as early as the summer, when rumblings spread that he’d undertaken a drastic overhaul of his diet – followed soon after by a striking Men’s Health feature revealing a noticeably leaner, more sculpted Dončić.The transformation (and the PR push around it) was almost certainly fueled by the Mavericks’ smear campaign in the wake of his exit, which sought to question everything from his work ethic to his relationship with alcohol.Off the court, Dončić is soft-spoken and even-keeled, happiest laying low with his wife, his baby daughter and his video games.On the court he’s a demon: one of the league’s fiercest competitors, a player who seems to take genuine delight in tormenting opponents.
For all his gifts, that almost manic competitiveness may be his defining trait.And seeing it up close makes something obvious: there was never a version of reality in which being cast off the way he was in February led to anything other than this, the moment he turned into the Terminator.Dončić acknowledges that his approach has shifted.He’s been noticeably more vocal this season, and when asked whether that’s intentional, he doesn’t hesitate.“Definitely [more vocal], just trying to help the guys,” he says.
But he credits the change partly to improved chemistry, stressing that he still wants leadership to feel shared,“I think leadership shouldn’t be just one player – it should be more players, and I think we have that,Everyone talks a lot,It feels like everyone is on the same page,”Those around him have noticed the growth.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick says he’s seen a real shift from last season: “I think he’s letting his teammates in right now,” he says.Austin Reaves – the Lakers guard who has developed an easy, teasing rapport with Dončić in the months since his arrival – sees it too, and isn’t surprised it took some time.“It’s human nature when things like last year happen.Nobody ever thought that was gonna happen … I’m sure he was in a state of shock,” Reaves says.“Having to move, move his family – it was tough.
But now I think he’s just getting comfortable, having a good time,”When James returns to make his season debut, which could happen as soon as Tuesday night against the Utah Jazz, the soft opening of the Lakers’ Luka Era will come to a temporary close,But the forward momentum won’t halt: the progress Dončić has made with the keys to the franchise in hand are palpable, and likely here to stay,He knows the future is his, and he seems more comfortable with that fact than ever,
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The long-awaited R360 threat has finally hit the NRL with Storm fan favourite Ryan Papenhuyzen and Kangaroos three-quarter Zac Lomax quitting their clubs and the sport. While the first salvo has come under the shroud of mystery with neither player revealing their future plans, this war over the elite talent of the NRL is far more likely to escalate than it is to evaporate over the next two years.It is the first truly external threat to the NRL’s hold on its talent in nearly a quarter-century, since a newly professional and cock-a-hoop Rugby Australia (then known as the ARU) used its brief surge in relative popularity – spurred by the public’s disenchantment with rugby league following the Super League War – to sign big-name NRL players Wendell Sailor, Mat Rogers and Lote Tuqiri. It is a threat the NRL should take extremely seriously, even if R360’s attempt to sign a host of rugby league stars will not truly cut at the heart of the 13-man game and its ongoing viability.This, of course, is not the first skirmish between the two codes
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The unsurprising confirmation of “a colossal global showdown” between Jake Paul and Anthony Joshua arrived on Monday morning with a dull thud. That grand description of an eight-round scrap between a former YouTuber and a former world heavyweight champion was supplied by Paul’s company, Most Valuable Promotions, which also announced that the contest will be screened live on Netflix on 19 December and called Judgment Day.Boxing operates in a netherworld that appears to have sunk far beyond any fear of judgment, while Paul has always had delusions of grandeur as a novice pro. But even boxing may have to consider its own culpability should Paul be badly hurt and end up in hospital after this fully sanctioned bout with regulation 10oz gloves is held in Miami.Paul is a brilliant hustler and, until now, he has chosen his opponents with deliberate care to avoid excessive danger
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