The Los Angeles Lakers have always been a franchise built on superstars. Perhaps the biggest in the history of the franchise was the late, great Kobe Bryant, and the team went on a bit of a drought once he retired until LeBron James signed in 2019. And now, the Lakers have their face of the franchise for the future after trading for Luka Doncic.
At just 26 years of age, Doncic is already one of the best players in the NBA today and is set to lead the Lakers for hopefully the next decade, much as Bryant did during the 2000s. Kobe remains one of the most revered players amongst today’s generation of NBA players and Luka was fortunate enough to meet him a couple of times before his tragic passing.
Doncic appeared on TODAY and was asked about his reverence for Bryant and the Lakers superstar revealed that the first time he met the icon, he was nervous and could barely talk:
“I actually met him twice or three times. First time was before I even started in the NBA, he surprised a couple of first-year players in training camp at Nike. I was shocked, I was nervous, I didn’t know what to say. And then the second time was when he trash talked me behind my back. I turned around and it’s Kobe, it was just an amazing feeling.”
The trash-talking story is a well-known one as Bryant, attending the Lakers-Mavericks game alongside his daughter Gianna, cussed at Doncic in Slovenian, prompting him to turn around curious as to who was talking to him and being shocked at seeing Kobe smiling at him. But that first meeting is a lesser known story and one that many likely can relate to when they first met Bryant.
Kobe truly meant so much to so many NBA greats and Doncic is among them. And now that Luka is wearing that purple and gold of the Lakers, he knows that Kobe is watching him as the next all-time great to lead this franchise to championship glory.
Luka Doncic expresses desire to win now with Lakers
The expectation is for Luka Doncic to be with the Lakers for a long time, and the franchise wants to take a long-term approach with him. But Doncic is not content solely playing the long game and has made it clear that as long as he is wearing a Lakers uniform he is trying to compete for championships and that includes right now.
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