Four days after the trade that shook the NBA, Luka Dončić joining the Los Angeles Lakers became more of a reality for everyone that may have still lingering disbelief over such a transaction taking place.
Dončić was introduced by the Lakers with general manager Rob Pelinka on Tuesday morning. By the afternoon, the Dallas Mavericks were offering refunds to season ticket holders. And in the evening, L.A.’s newest star was on the Lakers’ bench in street clothes watching his new team dominate its intra-city rival with a 122-97 win over the Los Angeles Clippers at the Intuit Dome.
Following the game, LeBron James admitted that he was as incredulous as media and fans upon hearing of the trade. And he was getting the news directly, unlike most seeing an alert on their phone.
“I thought it was a hoax, people messing around or whatever,” James told reporters, via ESPN. “But then when [Anthony Davis] called me, AD FaceTimed me and I talked to him for quite a while, and even when I got off the phone with him, it still didn’t seem real.”
Reality set in for James when he saw Dončić at the Lakers’ headquarters and watched Davis speak to reporters at the Mavericks’ shootaround in Philadelphia.
“That’s when it finally hit me, like, oh s***, this is real,” James told the media, including Yahoo Sports’ Vincent Goodwill.
The possibilities became even more vivid when James came out of Tuesday’s game in the first quarter and Dončić was occupying the seat next to his.
James scored a game-high 26 points in the victory over the Clippers with eight rebounds and nine assists. Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura each added 20. That performance likely demonstrated for Dončić what will soon be possible, as well.
During Tuesday’s press conference, Pelinka didn’t reveal exactly when Dončić would join LeBron and the Lakers on the court. Still recovering from a calf injury that’s sidelined him since Christmas, the hope is that Dončić will be ready before the NBA All-Star break, possibly when the Lakers host the Utah Jazz next Monday, Feb. 10. Or perhaps on Feb. 13 at Utah, if the team prefers for him to debut with the team on the road.
James made it clear that he has no worries about his game meshing with Dončić’s.
“If I had concerns, I would’ve waived my no-trade clause and got up out of here,” he said. Instead, he believes the transition to the Lakers’ new era will be “seamless.”
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