The Los Angeles Lakers have a completely remade roster going into the upcoming season with a number of new additions. And with the vocal leaders of last year’s team, LeBron James and Marcus Smart, both gone, the onus will be on superstar Luka Doncic to step up in that aspect as well.
Doncic is already embracing that role as the leader of this team as it has been reported that he will be hosting the entire Lakers roster for a four-day minicamp in his home country of Slovenia. And now the exact dates of that camp have been revealed, via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:
In order to extend his time in Slovenia before the upcoming NBA season and create an opportunity for team bonding, Doncic is hosting the entire Lakers roster in Ljubljana for a four-day minicamp from Aug. 20 to Aug. 24, a source close to the Lakers told ESPN last week.
This minicamp is an excellent move by Doncic in order to help with team bonding and beginning the process of building the chemistry that is so necessary for a team to be successful. James would usually host a minicamp for the team in Las Vegas in prior years and now Doncic is keeping that going, but also opening himself up to his teammates by bringing them to his home and being able to show them how he grew up while also putting in some work.
Doing this at the end of August should allow for the Lakers to hit the ground running once training camp kicks off a few weeks later. Expectations are a bit lower for the Lakers going into the 2026-27 season as the loss of James is a major one along with numerous role players who played a huge role in last season’s success. And it is unknown whether the additions of Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes and Sandro Mamukelashvili, among others, will make up for those losses.
But Doncic is the ultimate competitor and he is going to do everything in his power to lift this group to the heights everyone desires. And that process begins in late August in Ljubljana.
Cameron Carr unable to attend Luka Doncic minicamp because of mandatory NBA obligations
Unfortunately, Lakers rookie Cameron Carr will be the lone player on the roster to not attend Doncic’s minicamp in Slovenia due to something out of his control. The minicamp overlaps with the NBA’s rookie orientation and it is mandatory that Carr attends.
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