Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Bonus Episode: Interview with Tim MacMahon about Luka Dončić, PART I

Episode Date: March 25, 2025

ESPN's Tim MacMahon has covered Luka Dončić since his rookie season in Dallas, and knows the Mavericks franchise and organization as well as any reporter in the industry. All of which makes his new book, Wonderboy: Luka Dončić and the Curse of Greatness, a must-read for Lakers fans to learn more about the man slated to become the next franchise face. Hosts: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky, with special guest Tim MacMahon. Your favorite podcast now has a newsletter! In One-stop for ultimate team and league coverage delivered right to your in box. Sign up for free now, at lockedondaily.com.Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!Monarch MoneyTake control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first yearGametimeDownload the Gametime app, create an account, and use code LOCKEDONNBA for $20 off your first purchase. Terms apply. Download Gametime today. What time is it? Gametime.FanDuelRight now, new customers can get TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS in BONUS BETS when your first FIVE DOLLAR BET WINS! Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of the NBA. FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hello and welcome to a special bonus series of Locked-on Lakers, where we talk with ESPN's Tim McMahon about his new book, detailing the life and career of Luca Donchich, part one coming up next. You are Locked-on Lakers, your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. And thanks for making Locked on Lakers your first listen everywhere. You get your podcast Monday through Friday. It's free, never behind a paywall, Locked on Lakers.

On YouTube is where an awesome community of over 34,000 subscribers, watch the shows, leave frequent comments. We often use those comments as part of the show. Whether you are listening, whether you are watching, make sure you are subscribing. So you will always get every episode of Locked on Lakers. Last week, Brian and I talked with Tim McMahon about his new book, Wonderboy, Luca Donchich, and The Curse of Greatness, which was released today, March 25th, and we covered a lot of ground. And the interview was ultimately too long

for the locked-on format as far as being one episode. And rather than make a ton of cuts and edits, which ultimately, I don't think, serves our audience well, you guys end up missing out on a lot of great insights and details. We decided instead to release the conversation in installments in a week-long series. And today we begin with questions about Luca's personality and a childhood in basketball that feels very similar in a lot of ways to LeBron James. So here is part one of that conversation with Tim McMahon.

I don't know if what's been going on has been better or worse or anything for the book, but the book is The Wonderboy, Luca Donchich and the Curse of Greatness. It is obviously an extremely well-reported look at L.A.'s newest star. And there's so much that we want to break down to really understand who it is that is in L.A. And we'll obviously get into some stuff going on just with the conference this year as we get closer to the playoffs. But I found the most interesting stuff to me looking through the book was the early life, early career, Lucas stuff that I just wasn't as familiar with. Can you kind of break down where his basketball personality comes from? Because, you know, the sort of the trash talk and the flare and the, you know, all that

stuff that we're seeing now in L.A. It seems to have a lot of roots from how he played as a kid. I mean, it was born with it. Like, he was born as an absolute, ruthless competitor. And I tell a story in there that I heard when I went to, uh, Slovenia, I just happened to meet one of the guys that was, you know, the guy just described himself as the 15th man on the Slovenian under 16 team when Luca Dantz had played a friendly tournament in Hungary, you know, an under 16 friendly tournament. It was the only time Luke had played in a

Slovenian national program before Eurobasket, when he's Gordraget's co-star on a Eurobasket championship team. But so they're playing in this tournament in Hungary and they're playing against Romania And there was a guy in another team who was described to me as like a Pat Bev type, you know, just smallest, scrappy, just irritant of a guard who very early in the game catches Luca with an elbow and cuts him open above above his eyebrow. Lucas over there on the bench and he's got the towel on that, you know, stop. He's over there, I don't know, four or five minutes, whatever. And once he can get the bleed and stop, like slams a towel down, like storms past the coach

goes right to the score. I'm going to go back in the game. It was pissed off. And very first play, you know, Luca organizes this, where he's running pick and roll, and, you know, the little Romanian Pat Bev's going to have to come on over and help defense. And it unfolds exactly how Luca envisioned.

You know, the man knows he knows his basketball and unfolds exactly how he envisions. And Luca, obviously, he's never been known as a high flyer, but in this case, he goes up, dunks on the dude. The guy falls down and Luca gets the ball, slams it into his chest, and unleashes a stream of profanity that was questioned his manhood. And that really sums up, like, the ruthless, you know, you can even say nasty, competitive nature of Luca Dontergen. And when Luca is locked in and his wrath is focused on an opponent, or a lot of times you'll see in a road game, there's like a court side fan that he'll, or a fan of the first couple rows that he'll, you know, you say one thing, and it might not even

be that inflammatory. Don't give Luca a reason to make you the main target of his wrath. When he's in that mode, like we've seen some unreal performances from this guy. I mean, think of like fresh on the mind, think game five Western Conference Finals close out in Minnesota. He knew exactly who he was going at because the guy barked out of the first couple games. Not very successful, I'll add. But yeah, that's just always kind of been in them now. You know, the emotions, when the wrath is focused on the referees, that tends to turn into distraction and a lack of focus.

But, you know, this guy, he was just born, like, you're either that kind of competitor or you're not. And it's that way, like, I can't tell you how many teammates, coaches, whatever, have lost money to Luke on, like half-quarter. court shooting competitions or, you know, those sort of things. He's, it's like Jordan, you know, with the security guard, did the Jordan shrug with flipping the coin. Like, Luke is always looking for a way to compete.

That's just part of his DNA, part of his fabric. And take a quick break to let people know that Lockdowne Lakers is brought to you by Monarch Money. Have you ever checked your bank account and wonder, where did all the money go between dining out, online shopping, entertainment? It's easy to lose track. And that's where Monarch Money comes in your purse. personal CFO giving you full visibility and control over your finances.

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and you can track shared personal accounts, set goals, stay on the same page without the stress. Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use the code locked on MBA at Monarch Money for 50% off your first year. That's monarchmoney.com code locked on MBA for half of your first year. I was thinking about Luca in terms of how early he started. He got to, I believe he was 13 years old when he got that conscious. track with Real Madrid. And do you think of him as like a child prodigy in the same way we'll often

talk about like LeBron, NBA audiences often think about this stuff like through Americanized eyes. But, you know, he started really early. He was called the best prospect of Europe, got the El Nino Maravilla nickname the Wonderboy. Like, do you see commonalities along those ways? No, 100% ain't Brian? You're muted. Well, I was trying to make sure the noise of it, you know. Does Andy have a lineage that comes, you know, through his parents and, you know, through his dad. Well, certainly his dad was, his dad's kind of a Slovenian Charles Barkley. His dad's like this big gregarious personality there.

He was a six-time all-star in the Adriotic League. You know, there are people there who will tell you that didn't quite reach his full potential because he enjoyed, you know, steak and some wine and, you know, those sorts of things. But his dad is a major, major. figure in the Slovenian basketball world. And, you know, growing up in Slovenia, Luke was Sasha's son. Sasha's now kind of transition to being Lucas' dad, in America, he's dad.

But growing up with Sasha Dostya's son, you know, that was a thing, certainly in Slovenia. But, yeah, 100% of child prodigy. And, you know, I would say it's even a little bit different than, you know, LeBron or these guys who, and LeBron, I mean. Obviously, he's on the cover of Sports Illustrated, what it was at 16 years old, chose one and all that. But the biggest difference, and it's been compared to me of like a Justin Bieber type of thing, in the sense of your, Loco left his home country at the age of 13.

You know, he wasn't just grown up with a spotlight on him. He left and went to Spain, you know, had to learn a new language, you had to assimilate to a new culture. And so it's almost like he didn't get to experience his adolescence. And sometimes maybe he's frozen in that adolescence. But yeah, he gave up, you know, his adolescence, like what was left of his childhood to basically become a pro at 13. And, you know, like he's living in dorms and that sort of thing.

But this is, he was, he was practicing with Real Madrid's top team, which is, you know, Real Madrid's like the Lakers of EuroLeague. He's practicing with their top team at 15. He's on the roster at 16. He's a key rotation player at 17. At 18, he's freaking MVP of the EuroLeague, which was unprecedented. You know, youngest MVP ever. And so, I mean, he has been a pro since, you know, his mid-teens.

and a pro with a massive spotlight on him, not just because, you know, wow, what a childhood project. I think he was the third youngest player in Euro League history. But not only are you the third youngest player in your league history, you're on Real Madrid. And like these vets, these European legends, you know, they're like, dude, this guy at 15 years old is hooping in practice. Like he is, he belongs.

And so, yeah, there's definitely been a massive spotlight on this kid. And even when he was like 13, 14, he's playing up a couple of eight. You know, he's dominating 15s and 16s when he's 13. And so, you know, it was almost like a mythical type of figure, Salomezzary who ended up playing for the Mavericks and was with the Mavericks for Lucas' first couple of years. But he was on Real Madrid's top team when Luca was coming up through the ranks. And he said the guys for, you know, like the vets on Real Madrid, they would, you know,

check on Lucas Progress to look for his box scores similar to, you know, at the time, he gave to similar to the guys would do in the pros or in the NBA when Zion was at Duke. Or like now, like, guys, like, what's Cooper Flag doing? You know, that's how these guys looked at Lucas. He was coming up. And thanks for checking out part one of our conversation with Tim McMahon, part two, will be coming out on Wednesday. So we'll be looking forward to that. And until then, we will talk to you next time.