In this day and age, it is extremely important for a franchise to be on the same page as their superstar player. While they may not run every single decision by them, teams make sure to keep their franchise player in the loop and maintain the same vision, which leads to a great working relationship. And ever since he was acquired, that has been the case between Luka Doncic and the Los Angeles Lakers.
Both Jeanie Buss and Rob Pelinka have made sure to really build a relationship not just with Doncic, but with his support team as well, including agent Bill Duffy and manager Lara Beth Seager. That has all led to a level of trust between the Lakers and Doncic that was not there with the Dallas Mavericks.
And during the press conference announcing Luka’s new max extension with the Lakers, Pelinka went out of his way to compliment the superstar’s team.
“I think it’s important to, Luka’s done all the work, but it’s important to have a support system around you to help you do the great work and just wanna take time to recognize the work that Luka’s team, Javi[er Barrios] and Anze [Macek] in particular have done,” Pelinka said. “They’ve dedicated to the process to help him be great. Lara Beth [Seager] monitoring it, Bill Duffy looking over it. But the system around him has been so supportive and has worked seamlessly with our sports performance staff led by Dr. [Leroy] Sims. So it’s been a group effort and all of us need each other to be great. We’re gonna continue to support Luka when he leads by example with the work he’s doing to be great on the court it inspires all of us.”
Luka’s physical transformation this offseason has undoubtedly set the tone for the rest of the Lakers about getting into the best shape possible heading into next season. This was obviously a point of contention for the Mavericks and they just couldn’t see eye to eye with Doncic’s team, but it has been the complete opposite in L.A.
The relationship between Doncic and the Lakers is an extremely strong one, which bodes well for the superstar guard being happy in L.A. and continuing his career in the purple and gold for a long time.
New Lakers owner Mark Walter is a ‘huge’ Luka Doncic fan
Of course, the Lakers will soon be officially under new ownership with Mark Walter purchasing the team from the Buss family. Thankfully, Walter is also a huge fan of Luka Doncic and recently met the superstar in-person for the first time.
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