The NBA world had shockwaves sent through it last February when Luka Doncic was traded from the Dallas Mavericks to the Los Angeles Lakers. The deal was kept so quiet before becoming official that not even LeBron James was informed of the deal ahead of time. It arguably is the most stunning deal in league history, even as a full year has passed.
It took some time once Doncic arrived in L.A. to get comfortable. After all, it’s a jarring transition to go from Dallas, Texas to Los Angeles, California on very little warning. That’s before getting into the differences between being the face of the Mavericks and the face of the Lakers.
But as he goes through his first full campaign with the Lakers, James has noticed the superstar getting more and more comfortable with all of it. He spoke about it after Luka’s return to Dallas on Saturday night with the Lakers, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
“The most important thing is just his comfort. Obviously when you get traded mid-season and him spending his first seven or eight years here, it was a shock to everybody. Everybody that was involved, everyone that wasn’t, the whole sports world. But I think the biggest thing this year is just more comfortable, understanding the system, understanding the city, the city embracing him. Him understanding that this is his team, so we’re all rallying around him. We know it’s kind of an emotional, big game when you come back and play your former team. And he showed why he is who he is tonight.”
It’s clear that Luka has become more comfortable with being in L.A., being a Laker and moving on from the Mavericks stage of his career. Of course, that doesn’t mean there won’t be emotion on nights like Saturday, but the superstar is certainly happy to be with the purple and gold.
And he showed that in the way he locked in defensively in the final minutes of Saturday’s game to help the Lakers secure a strong comeback victory.
JJ Redick credits Luka Doncic’s defense
Doncic is quicker and more agile on the court after his offseason body transformation. However, he’s still largely a defensive liability because of his lack of burst and explosiveness. Far too often, Doncic is unable to keep his opponent in front which then compromises the rest of Los Angeles’ defense.
However, head coach JJ Redick came away impressed with how well Doncic held up defensively in the fourth quarter against the Mavericks. The Lakers wound up coming back to win and Redick credited the superstar for coming up with multiple stops in crunch time.
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