Roughly eight months after being traded from the Dallas Mavericks, Luka Doncic is coming around to embracing the challenge of leading the Los Angeles Lakers into their next era.
To show his commitment to winning, Doncic worked himself into top shape this offseason to prepare for an 82-game season. He has struggled with nagging lower-body injuries the past couple of seasons and seemingly played banged up for a while.
The Slovenian star appears to have moved on and is ready to kick off a potential MVP campaign though. As training camp and preseason continue, Doncic is familiarizing himself with his teammates and trying to build chemistry ahead of Opening Night.
In a cool gesture and a show of appreciation, the 26-year-old gifted the entire team a pair of his latest signature shoe, the Luka 4s, via Lakers:
As a leader, these are ways to help build relationships with teammates, but it does not have to be in the form of gifting shoes. However, it shows everyone that Doncic is a genuine person and cares about treating them well.
Trying to lead a franchise like the Lakers is a tall task and the All-NBA guard looks eager to take on that responsibility. During a grueling regular season, everyone needs to be on the same page and have each other’s back when times get tough.
In addition to giving away Luka 4’s, Doncic recently organized a team bonding event at Porsche, where players got a chance to drive exotic cars. During the offseason, he recruited Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart to L.A., so he clearly wants to make his time with the Lakers count.
Doncic looks bought into his new situation, so demonstrating these qualities is great to see in less than a year of arriving. Now, it is about maintaining these leadership qualities in hopes of cashing in on a championship.
Luka Doncic & Austin Reaves want to continue playing with LeBron James
Opening night is approaching on Oct. 21 and the Lakers are now at a disadvantage with LeBron James sidelined with a sciatica injury. As a 40-year-old going into his 23rd season, Father Time will catch up eventually and James has never missed the beginning of the season.
Despite all these recent rumors regarding team direction and how L.A. will handle James’ contract, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves reportedly want to keep play alongside him for however long he has left.
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