Luka Doncic is set to lead the Los Angeles Lakers for years following his contract extension this past summer.
There is arguably no better superstar to serve as the face of the franchise after LeBron James than Doncic given his age, talent and global appeal. In his first full season with Los Angeles, Doncic led the league in scoring and should have been a finalist for MVP despite a late-season Grade 2 left hamstring strain.
Lakers governor Jeanie Buss has been ecstatic having Doncic on the team and even went as far to say that franchise legend Kobe Bryant would have been just as happy to see him representing the purple and gold.
“I knew he was a great player, an All-Star, but the fact that he joins the Lakers and immediately becomes the number one selling jersey in the NBA, that he led the league in scoring. I knew he was good. What he brings to us globally in terms of fans, we just have so much to look forward to, to watch him continue to grow. And he’s a winner. He wants to win,” Buss told ESPN’s Stephen A. Smith, via HoopsHype.
“And, of course, I have a soft spot in my heart for him because the last time I saw Kobe alive was about a month before he passed, he came to the Lakers-Dallas game with Gigi, because Luka was Gigi’s favorite player. So I know that Kobe would be excited that he’s now a Laker and will continue to lead this franchise into the foreseeable future.”
Drawing comparisons to Bryant is a high compliment and one that shouldn’t be taken lightly, so it goes to show how much respect and admiration Buss has for Doncic. As Buss noted, one of Bryant’s final public appearances was to watch Doncic play and in a full-circle moment he now calls Bryant’s former home arena his own.
Doncic is in line to join generations of iconic players such as Bryant and James and it’ll be exciting to see how much he can accomplish in the coming years.
LeBron James gives reason behind Luka Doncic’s huge season
James was able to take a backseat for the first time in his career thanks to Doncic’s emergence as the Lakers’ new primary option. Doncic responded to last year’s criticisms about his weight and conditioning with a career year, but James credited his comfortability within the organization as the biggest reason behind his huge season.
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