The Los Angeles Lakers enter a highly anticipated 2025-26 NBA season, their first full campaign with Luka Doncic at the helm of the team. Fans got a teaser of Doncic in L.A. during the second half of 2024-25 after he was dealt to the Lakers at the trade deadline.
But after a full offseason of slimming down, signing a new three-year extension and putting up historic figures at EuroBasket for Slovenia, it feels like the Luka era in Los Angeles truly begins now. And while the Lakers are expected to be improved from last season, there is still some debate as to how good they truly are.
They made some improvements by adding a starting caliber center in Deandre Ayton and a defensive-minded guard in Marcus Smart via buyout, while also adding some versatility in forward Jake LaRavia, but they are still defensively lackluster. Part of L.A.’s improvement may involve Doncic taking another leap forward, if that’s even possible. And the Lakers star believes that a way to do that is to change his leadership style, via Dan Woike of The Athletic:
“I mean, it was probably just something I need to do — especially since I’ve seen a lot of basketball now,” Dončić said. “So I’ve been through a lot — so it was kind of something like, I need to do this to help, to help others.”
Doncic admitted that he has not always felt prepared mentally for the role of being a leader. That’s in part because of the things that leaders sometimes have to do, but known this season is the time for it:
“(Being a leader), sometimes it’s comfortable, sometimes not,” he said. “Sometimes it’s great to be a leader and sometimes you have to say things that you don’t want to, but that’s part of being a leader.”
This Lakers roster does have a fantastic leader in LeBron James. L.A., though, has made it clear that Luka is their present and future, meaning he can’t rely on LeBron to do the heavy lifting as a leader this season.
If Los Angeles does get a Doncic that is truly ready to lead — or at least learn how to — it adds another ceiling-raiser to the roster this season and beyond.
Luka Doncic: new season feels like start of Lakers tenure
The Lakers begin the 2025-26 NBA season in less than four weeks when they face the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21. It marks the start of Luka Doncic’s first full season as a member of the franchise.
The Lakers go into the 2025-26 season with the general consensus being that they improved slightly on their team that lost in the first round of last year’s playoffs. Some of that improvement comes from Doncic himself, as the 26-year-old slimmed down significantly in the summer and had a historic EuroBasket showing for Slovenia.
Now he’s ready to take the floor for the Lakers for the first time to begin a new season. And for him, despite already debuting in L.A., this new campaign feels fresh for the European superstar.
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