Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - A Luka Dončić Deep Dive! Iztok Franko Talks All Things "Luka and the Lakers!"

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Starting point is 00:00:50 And however you're taking in, Locked on Lakers, we appreciate it very much. I'm Andy Kemenetsky, my brother, and co-host Brian, remains on vacation this week. So continuing our slate of revolving guests. Today I'm talking with basketball, writer, Ishtak Franco. He is a Slovenian basketball writer. He has been covering Luca Donchich before and now during his time in the NBA and has been all over this next chapter of Luca's career with the

Starting point is 00:01:19 Lakers. I've known about Eastok for a while, but it's the first time we've had a chance to talk. I'm really excited about this. Zadravo, Eastak. Oh, nice, nice Slovenian. Thanks. I've been sucking up to a lot of our new audience, Eastak. I've been pandering pretty shamelessly. You're almost on Kobe level of Slovenian. Before we get into some of your thoughts on Luca and the Lakers and the season ahead, all that stuff, can you provide our audience a bit just about your background? Yeah, I have a, I say, not traditional background when we were talking before the chat. Let's say I'm not a typical MBA writer or journalist.

Starting point is 00:01:58 So I followed NBA for a long time more than 30 years. but got into, let's say, more the analysis part, the data part, let's say six, seven years ago, and basically when started following more up-close Luca in the Mavericks, and then really got into it, studied how the game is analyzed. I was really fascinated by the whole analytics movement, history of the NBA, and just wanted to know how NBA teams dissect the game. I was lucky enough to get in touch with people with some,

Starting point is 00:02:34 let's see front offices that do analytics and I'm still in touch. So that was always the part that's, let's say, inspire me the most. And then writing is trying to, the process of writing is just trying to put, create meaningless stories from the data, from the film, from the things that you see on the court. And you referenced digging basketball. That is your substack that people check out your work out. Very prolific, very interesting smart breakdowns of stuff going on in the NBA,

Starting point is 00:03:03 in particular with Luca. When you think about the beginnings of Luca's career in Spain, in Slovenia, what jumps out at you most? I mean, just how he was always a couple of steps ahead when it comes to what competition he was playing. Even when he was 10 years old, they put in like competing against 13-year-olds. And then Adraal Madrid, this is, I mean, it's a well-known story how he made his first game. for the senior team with 16 and then won everything when he was 18, 19. But probably I think most people in the US still don't know how that's really unprecedented. Especially on a team like Real Madrid, which is like the Lakers of the NBA, very veteran-led team.

Starting point is 00:03:56 There is not really being a guy, a player so young that would be the best player on the team, MVP and the best team. If you look at the movement now with the NIT in the US, because there is a huge movement of young European players playing to US to college, even from Slovenia. I think we had like four or five people's going over, and it's not only the money. What the players say, okay, money is great. They earn mostly more than they would in Europe at that age, but it's also opportunity, playing opportunity and competition. because the high player 18, 19, they don't play in Europe significant roles. And Luca not only played the significant role, he was the best player on the team. How would you put in perspective just how big of a deal Luca is in Slovenia?

Starting point is 00:04:46 Because we understand it from an Americanized point of view, how big of a deal he is in the NBA. And now especially when he's with the Lakers, the Tiffany franchise of the NBA, one of the biggest in sports period. But just how big of a deal Luca is in his home country? Yeah, I said this plant. I think he's our first and I would still say only superstar, meaning in global appeal, not only sports, but I would say music, politics, culture,

Starting point is 00:05:20 which is funny because sports right today, I don't know if any people watch tour de France, we have the best cycler in the world. He's leading Tour de France by four minutes and he's literally in the greatest of all-time discussions. I think he will end up. And cycling is a huge sport. But when you look at the cultural effect of basketball, look up being in the US now with the Lakers, I think it's another thing that even enhanced his stardom, global stardom, he being a Jordan brand athlete, I think and his history and I think the interesting part with Luca is he's not only a star

Starting point is 00:06:01 in Slovenia or followed in Slovenia but he has a huge following in Spain. Yeah. Because of his Madrid days, he's like, when I did a story on him a couple of years ago when America played in Madrid, their game, exhibition game, Spanish people said he's our son, basically, because he grew up there, he speaks Spanish fluently. I think he likes the most speaking in Spanish. and he's doing interviews. And then also a couple of years ago,

Starting point is 00:06:28 there was a World Cup in the Philippines. He's amazingly popular there, so in Asia. So I think that all makes him, like I said, this superstar, and he's covered as such here in Slovenia. So every day there is a story on the news about him. When the Lakers have games, it's always about that game and what he's doing and stuff like that.

Starting point is 00:06:52 People talk a lot about the similarities between Luca and LeBron in terms of the basketball IQ, the style of play. Like, Luca is in some ways a younger version of LeBron. Like, not always. Like, Luca on his best day is not as athletic as LeBron, like on his worst day. But there are a lot of commonalities. But I've thought about before how I think Luca and LeBron can potentially relate, just in the aspect that they're both kind of the sports equivalent. of child stars, like child movie or TV actors,

Starting point is 00:07:26 like they've both been extremely famous, like when they were young teenagers and propped up for massive stardom in a way that like few people, even like other NBA superstars can really relate to like for how long that's been going on. Does that seem to you like something that they can, I guess, either relate to or maybe even bond on,

Starting point is 00:07:48 like that sort of commonality? Yeah, for sure. I think they even talked about how they look at or respect each other. And I think, yeah, like I said, that early prodigy type, although Luca was not such a prodigy in NBA, when he got there, he was the first pick and people doubted him. But in Europe he was. And in his mind and his road to there the success he had, you could say that he had much more success before joining the NBA than LeBron did.

Starting point is 00:08:20 But I think, and also I think now, when he's... you look at their careers, the early struggle, because LeBron had to go through a lot to win his first championship, despite the talent. And I think the mental struggle of NBA not being, not, I would use the word, I don't know, as easy as it was before, or is it successful? I think it's part of the, both of their pets that they had to, we are seeing hopefully, and I think there are a lot of science with Luca now this summer. And we saw with LeBron, basically that it took him some time to figure some things out in his, in his, basically, Pat, he also had to change the team, but basically there was the struggle to get to this ultimate goal that was

Starting point is 00:09:07 expected from probably both even earlier in their careers. I think. All right. Coming up, actually, I want to start getting more into Luca's NBA career, both with the Mavericks and now with the Lakers. So we will get into that coming up next. Lockdown Lakers is brought to you by Game Time. Have you ever to decide at the last minute you wanted to go to the ball game with friends or family,

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Starting point is 00:10:24 first purchase, terms apply. Again, create an account and redeem the code L-O-C-K-E-D-O-N-N-B-A for 20 bucks off. Download the game time app, last-minute tickets, lowest price guaranteed. So now, Ishtok, moving on to Luca's NBA career. We know that Luca was shocked when the Mavericks traded him to the Lakers. How shocked were you? I mean, it was crazy. I woke up Sunday morning, I remember. And typically, I, I I don't, I have notifications off only SMS, things like that. And there was a journalist from our national television who sent me a text that was like earthquake with the subject. So I only saw that.

Starting point is 00:11:09 And I asked my son, because it was Sunday, he woke up before me, did you feel anything? He was like an earthquake. And then we started watching the news. It was, okay, I know what you mean. And the funny story from that day was because we started doing two years ago, for these European Pride Time games, we started to do telecast and studio with Lucas father, some other people on our sports television.

Starting point is 00:11:33 And we had the game schedule for that day. It was like a Maverick's Kev's game. And then it was like, will his father show up? Will we do the game? What we will do on that game? And it turned out he showed up. We had a lot of fun, I mean, discussing. And even the broadcast, I did a broadcast with another guy.

Starting point is 00:11:50 It was like a two-hour podcast about the trade because it was a meaningless game. It was a crazy day. Yeah, it was one of the longest day I remember. Lucas dad seems like a pretty outspoken, pretty big character in his own right. The narrative of Luca and poor body maintenance, bad fitness habits, however you want to put it, which that's been connected by some people to Luca's injury history or general conditioning that could be better.

Starting point is 00:12:19 How fair do you think that either the coverage of this or the way that it has been discussed has been with Luca or like how much validity do you think there is to this being a conversation? I mean, coverage, like in most cases it's always it's going to be more dispolarizing. And especially topic like this, it will end up in a polarizing way, one way or another. I think for sure part of the part of the narrative or the let's say criticism is valid. I mean, Looka cannot hide for that. And we see that this season there's a lot of talk about him, like improving or working on his body. I think the part where there is, let's say, context or when you try to put that more in the context,

Starting point is 00:13:08 is also the bad that he had with the Mavericks. In a lot of cases, his past teams were poorly built or were built in a way in a such way that he had to carry a great load. during the regular season and then he would break down as the season were progress. Even in the season when they had the most success in 2023, 2004, when they made the finals, I don't know if the Laker fans followed that team that closely, but in the first part of the year, they didn't have a center, they didn't manage to find, like, join narrative to the Lakers. So they drafted Derek lively. He was good, but he was a rookie and injured a lot.

Starting point is 00:13:52 Kyrie Irving got injured in the first part of the season, missed, I think, almost 25 games. So Luca had to carry a huge load just for the Mavericks to hang around 500. And then they made a trade for Gafford, for PJ Washington. Kyrie got back, and then they made their run and been like one of the best teams in the NBA. But I think that caught up to him in the finals because it was such a long season and such a high burden. But like I said, I think it's for sure it's the area of his game that I think he's, I think, sure as well would probably admit that he has room for improvement.

Starting point is 00:14:28 Now that the shock of all this, I think, is worn off for Luca and being in this new setting, how do you like the pairing between Luca and a huge market franchise like the Lakers? Like, Luca seems to enjoy the spotlight and the stage, like the bigger, the moment, the better. But I've heard him talk about himself as more of a low-key guy. I've gotten the impression that he's not particularly into dealing with media, not like he's rude or uncooperative, like at least in my experience, but he doesn't seem to like it. And there's a lot of that that comes with being a Laker.

Starting point is 00:15:04 Like, do you think this is a good match for Luca? I think JJ mentioned this before on some podcast, something like he is like a killer or completely different person that wants he steps on the floor and completely different person off the court. And that's true. and it's everything you mentioned. So I think he likes the biggest stage. I think like we are talking about Spain, Real Madrid.

Starting point is 00:15:26 I think he enjoyed that stage being on the most glamorous club. I think he likes playing in front of the stars in L.A. He likes to perform. He's a performer, basically. And I think what he has in common with a lot of stars, he finds motivation in this kind of moment. So he's always seeking for some kind of spark to spark his emotion because this is where typically then he plays his best. But off the court is, I think everything you mentioned, I don't think he enjoys that at all.

Starting point is 00:16:00 He's not like a big exposure person. But one thing that he mentioned, and I think it's true because you see how he spends his summer. He likes the ocean. He likes the seaside. He likes the weather. So I think he enjoys L.A. very much. It's funny. You bring up the idea of Luca finding the sparks and the motivations. And I think for a lot of athletes like him, the slights, like the things that you can read into as in some way dissing you or some way being disrespectful. And you know, turn that in motivation. Kobe was famous for MJ LeBron down the line. It's interesting. You wrote a piece for digging basketball about Marcus Smart joining the team. And Luca being a part of that recruitment. And part of your piece is, quote,

Starting point is 00:16:46 I still remember watching their battles when Smart was in Boston, later in Memphis. There was always a sense of mutual respect, and you could see how much both players embrace the challenge of going head to head. And I thought that was interesting because, like, Luca is known as a guy in the league that kind of relishes feuds and, like,

Starting point is 00:17:05 really gets into the idea of very personalized feuds. Like, Devin Booker is one of the highest profile cases of this. But it seems like with someone like, like Marcus Smart, it always remained like a professional respect. Is there like a giveaway or like the equivalent like a poker tell, like a common attribute that you've noticed when it comes to Luca and the opponents that he respects them and it's purely like a professional rival as opposed to someone like, again, Devin Booker, that it seems like Luca genuinely enjoys beating this guy and making him

Starting point is 00:17:41 look bad? Yeah, I think with the smart, let's say, relationship or respect came from early in Lucas' career where Smart was in Boston. And I think that team with Smart, with Jelan Brown, with Tatum, with some other ads, they kind of tried to test him, kind of bully him.

Starting point is 00:17:59 And I don't know if you remember, he hits like two game winners against the Celtics in the regular season. In two consecutive seasons. So I think that's where the, if you hear Smart, he's saying, oh, Luca magic is real. And I think that's where the respect comes from from smart side. So I think he, Luca, I think, like you said, he on the court, he would try to find an edge.

Starting point is 00:18:26 He would try to, especially when he's on the game, he would try to get you in his head. He's like, when he's on his game and when he is like trash talking, I think he's one of the most demoralizing player to play against. Because when his step back three is falling, you cannot be. anything and you can see i don't know in finals western conference finals last year guys like anthony edward who says like he just kicked our ass and aunt is like the most uh confident person and he was like completely demoralized in that series but i think luka in that sense it's similar to ant that he doesn't have problem giving credit to good defenders he i don't know he would always say like marcus marty is a great defender or he would say lu dorth he's one of the best defenders

Starting point is 00:19:09 he's defending me well. So he's not like, I don't know, being this arrogant when he's talking about his peers around the NBA. Coming up, I want to get more into this upcoming season with Luca and the Lakers. And some of your thoughts about the best ways that the Lakers can go about utilizing Luka and scheming for him as somebody who's covered Luca

Starting point is 00:19:32 for a long time. So I'm getting into that coming up next. So what do you make of this Lakers team is currently construction? around Luca. I mean, it's certainly better than it was where they ended up last year. That's no doubt. So they brought three players, they lost Dorian, who basically I love one of my favorite

Starting point is 00:20:03 players because I watched him in Dallas. But I think we saw in the playoffs kind of certain limitations of his archetype and where the NBA is going. So I think they feel the goal. of course filling the center gap with DeAndre Aiton, then Marcus Marge, Lericklurie, even the draft. So I think they're certainly better. I said, I think there was a discussion before the off season, what would you think of

Starting point is 00:20:32 as a successful Lakers season as I said if they found one long-term feet starting piece and just evened out some of the, let's say, imbalances in the starting five. So I think I could not say they did that. Aton could be that, smart could be that, Laravia long term could be that, but there is not one clear piece that say, okay, this is a building block that we will see in Lakers uniform next to Luca for next three years. So I think that to me would be, I would be really pleased, but I think especially given the context and given how they got to this point, not using the assets so they can still make a move down the line. I wrote on digging in travel, digging basketball a lot about that. I think Rob Plink and the front office bought them time and goodwill to make this next move, hopefully the move that I was talking about with much more maneuver position and much more time and less pressure.

Starting point is 00:21:32 In what ways do you think Luca and LeBron can blend their skills more, just like whether in terms of how they're used together, the approaches, actions that could be run for them, that sort of thing? I think just chemistry. Luca talked about that. I hate the comparison because there is all the time, but I think it's true. We saw some similar things with Kyrie. First half a season, it was the same,

Starting point is 00:21:56 trend, deadline acquisition. And I think what we saw in Lucas' career, he actually plays, I think he doesn't have a problem. He plays well with another dominant ball handler because they can take turns. He respects players like Kyrie, like LeBron. So I think there is just this small. small nuances in chemistry, when somebody's time to go, how to find it.

Starting point is 00:22:20 I think passes Luca to Kyrie in the second season was much better. I think transition was a huge thing with Robloon, like just easy points for LeBron, even playing some actions of one of each other. So I think just chemistry, I think it's going to make a lot of difference this second season. I imagine, too, also from Lucas' perspective, there's a bit of an awkwardness to get through, like, with LeBron, not because LeBron is uncomfortable with Luca being there or Luca uncomfortable with LeBron, but just like the idea of LeBron was here before. He's been there many years.

Starting point is 00:22:55 He's LeBron James, like his stature is arguably the greatest player in NBA history, plus a guy that Luca has talked about openly idolizing when he was younger. And the idea of not wanting to step on LeBron's toes or seem like you are any way, nudging the guy out the door or, you know, into less of an area of importance, especially with everybody knowing at this point, this is Lucas team. Like everybody knows. Everything now revolves around Luca in ways that is, LeBron, frankly, is not used to. And I think that that in and of itself requires a little bit of a sensitivity in the way

Starting point is 00:23:37 you handle it. Yeah, and I also think LeBron is smart enough. I think the point that you said is really true. You could see it, especially in the first games, that Ruka was really kind of sometimes looked like out of place, basically trying to find. He was never in the position not to be the main piece, the main player, the main cog in the offense.

Starting point is 00:23:59 So I think that part, I think this season is going to be much more natural, much more comfortable, the chemistry. But also I think with LeBron, as he ages, I mean, I think he is smart enough to know that, easy points and less pressure that he will still be able to get that his life can be a lot easier playing off Luca. So I think he's smart enough and I think I don't expect Lucas game to change that much as much as I expect LeBron, not necessarily to change the game, but just use his IQ and use his, whose skill, because he has such a diverse skill set even at his age and athleticism that I

Starting point is 00:24:42 think he can really prolong and maintain, let's say, his freshness throughout the season, just playing off Luca more. What are you picturing in terms of Luca and DeAndre Aiton as a tandem? And do you consider him the type of center that Luca looks for or prefers to have? I mean, the second part, I would probably say no, because everything that was out of the Lakers and the Mark Williams trade and even in Slovenia national team, it's always the rim running role big, you know, Atlantic Big. But I was one of the first on the Android idea,

Starting point is 00:25:24 because my concept the whole time was I would like to see Luca more like a center I was always using if it's Azubats as a reference, because a more skilled guy who can punish you in the post, who can hit the hook shot, who can play the pick and roll, but also on the short role who is physically strong to punish switches, is so much more diverse. And DeAndre Aiton jumped out to me when I was thinking about

Starting point is 00:25:45 as the only comparable but available beak. So I think Luca eventually, what we saw in his career, he can make it work with any big. I used in my DeAndre Aton deep dive, I used a comparison of Christian Wood, who you guys

Starting point is 00:26:03 know because he moved from the Marriks to the Lakers. Yeah. But he's half a season with the Mavericks, he was legitimately, I'm not joking, people had him in all-star conversations I know, next to Lucas.

Starting point is 00:26:18 So he was averaging, I think, 17 and 7 for the season, but as a starter, he was like a 20 and 10 guy. And he's a similarly, similar, let's say, in a way that a lot of people doubt his motor, that they doubt how dedicated it is to the game, but not his talent. And I think Luca will find ways to leverage

Starting point is 00:26:41 DeAndre Aton's skills. I think he still can be a rim-roll finisher, but he has much more other skills. So in offense, I think the pairing can work and they will unleash each other, basically. Not only Luke unleashing Aiton,

Starting point is 00:26:57 but we saw last season at the end of the season and the playoff, the only pick-and-roll partner, basically for Luca, the main pick-and-role partner was Rui Hachimura, which is not ideal for his game. So I think having a big that can set screens, that he can use to manipulate, to get to the rim, to find lobs, to create breakdowns, to create

Starting point is 00:27:17 corner trees, I think Aiton will be good for that. The question of Luca and defense that's dogged him a lot for criticism through his career, thus far, like since Lucas joined the Lakers and I've been really watching him on a game-in-game out basis, in my opinion, I don't think Lucas' defense is as bad as its reputation. but it's certainly not his strong suit. And he does get targeted. I'm not always sure it's the best approach, but it happens regardless.

Starting point is 00:27:51 How important, before even get into your thoughts on Luca as a defender, like strengths and weaknesses, from the time that you've spent covering him, how important do you think defense is to Luca, like just that side of the floor in general? I think the main thing with Luca, it's not only defense, but in general it's like make it competitive. Sometimes in the regular season

Starting point is 00:28:18 and I saw this from friends who I have even on the national team, it's like just challenging him. And we saw this in different stages of his career, games, playoffs, when he puts his mind to it, when he sees this as a challenge, he would most often step up to it.

Starting point is 00:28:35 You are mentioning Devin Booker, if you remember, that Western Comparov's finals in 2022, Chris Paul and the Evin Buker were killing Luca and Pick and Roll. He looked like a lot. It was like this year, Timberwolf series. So the sons were up to zero. And Luca was saying everybody's stuff when they're up acting on this famous line.

Starting point is 00:28:57 But then in the next series, he started to Jason Keith and the others, they challenged him. He stepped up and I think he defended competently or, let's say, competently for the rest of the series. So I think that's one part of it. he's also good in a lot of areas defensively that are not as visible maybe as one-on-one isolation defense so like rebounding defensive rebounding being able to switch on bigger guys I think if you look this player of series I think he was probably the best defending jurist lander yeah or other guys struggled more against him and that's again individual challenge that I

Starting point is 00:29:33 think yeah I was going to say like it it's interesting because you often hear for a guy like Luca, who is both a star player with a very heavy offensive load, but somebody who has a reputation as, you know, he has a reputation as a negative defender. Like he's a minus defender. And often for guys like that, the scheme will be try to find an assignment form that is the least taxing, the least responsibility, less for him necessarily to do. In some respects, it sounds like the way to bring out the best in Luca might be, be to give him a more difficult assignment. Like that actually brings out more in him, even acknowledging it could make his load for the game more difficult, but it might bring out the best version of him defensively. Sime, yes. I think there was a game, I think this season or last, I don't know, I mean last or won before with the Mavericks and Kevin Durant was killing him, killing them.

Starting point is 00:30:35 And he was basically took the task of defending him for the second half. So that's one case. But I think also it's a little bit about context or the environment around him. I think this year, especially in the playoffs, the Lakers were so small that I think the whole team as a whole just physically. And I think mentally broke down fighting Rudy Gober, Randall, Nazrid, just wrestling with them for four games and playing all these minutes. I think they were like just physically not capable of, let's say, playing overly aggressive defense. And what we saw in Dallas in that, let's say, finals team or that team that basically was all of a sudden made the run of defense. They were basically, before they ran into the Celtics in the finals, they were basically winning every series with defense.

Starting point is 00:31:26 I think when the Merricks put athletic defenders around him, like Derek Jones Jr., Derek Lively, PJ Washington, guys that could make this athletic, defensive place. I think you could see Spark and look as eyes like this competitive fire, that it would hype him up and they would go in transition or he would get hyped up, even off teammates plays for defense. So I think that's why I was saying he's such an emotional player and guy that sometimes he needs some situations and things like that, especially in the regular season to pick up his energy. Yeah, and over at digging basketball again, the substack that you write that people should check out really good deep dive.

Starting point is 00:32:08 into Luca, now Luca with the Lakers, you noted, and I did not know this until you pointed it out, that Luca has yet to play alongside an all-defense-level defender. Like, none of his teammates have ever won a spot on the all-defense team or even come that close. And, you know, you noted something like Derek Lively, for example, might get there one day. but for the time that Luca played with him wasn't there, you know, wasn't close to that. So contextually, there's the question of just putting, as you'd mentioned, like the best defenders around Luca,

Starting point is 00:32:50 assuming skinny Luca, you know, the photos that you referenced before are like a real thing, do you think that could improve his defense just being lighter on his feet? Yeah, for sure, I think. I mean, also, it's the position he's going to defend. Because when we're talking about before defending Julius Randall, I think there is where size and strength help you. But I think Luca, I mean, a lot of was talking about his athleticism, his acceleration,

Starting point is 00:33:26 this famous P3 testing before the drafts, his discoleration like being elite, like J.C. harder and this is one part of his athletic season that's a lead that people don't often think about it but the other part i think is just his natural strength even if you look at his father he has the same body it's like a huge guy really strong legs i think he's so i think this i don't think he will lose that much of that even if he's losing some of his weight but that's my opinion but we'll see And then last question for you, the one that has been on every Laker fan's mind, and frankly, everybody inside the offices in El Segundo, do you think he signs the extension this off-season?

Starting point is 00:34:11 Yeah, I think just yesterday, Slovenia national team started their training camp for the Eurobasket. Luca cannot join until, I think, early August because of the NBA rules. And the national coach said that he will join them around August 1st. but he first he's going to US to fix care of some business or something like that. So I don't want to misquote him. There was even an article that says somebody mentioned it's going to be a four-year deal. So that to me was a big surprise.

Starting point is 00:34:45 I don't know if that's accurate. But I think everything indicates if that's true that he's going to US. I don't know why he was going there. Otherwise, because the national team will play a big exhibition. game on August 8th, I plan to go to that game against Germany World Cup. Typically, they do want this big game in Yubaliana in front of his home crowd because he's such a star that we talked. So I'm very much assuming he's going to play that game. So I think he's going to want to come back. And if that is the business that he's going to take care and everything that we saw,

Starting point is 00:35:20 from recruiting of smart, from his statement when the new owners were announced, I think, there is no doubt that he's going to sign the extension. All right. Well, our audience truly now loves you, Isok Franco. Isdok Franco, again, the substack digging basketball. You should check it out, really smart coverage of Luca. Now Luca and the Lakers. This was really awesome finally to meet you. Really appreciate the time.

Starting point is 00:35:49 Havala, Eastak, Havala. Thank you. Thank you, Andy. And yeah, looking forward to some other chats in the future. Yeah, definitely. we'll do this again. Sunday into Monday, we'll be joined by Yovon Buha. Buhas Block, great Lakers coverage. We're going to break down some of the stuff that's happened over the offseason as well. Until then, again, appreciate everybody

Starting point is 00:36:12 subscribing to Locked on Lakers on YouTube, listening on audio. Please subscribe. And again, thank you to everybody for being here, and we will see you on Monday.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - A Luka Dončić Deep Dive! Iztok Franko Talks All Things "Luka and the Lakers!"

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