Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić Dominates Again, but Slovenia Is Eliminated... Plus, When Will LeBron Retire?

Starting point is 00:00:00 Hey everyone, welcome to Lockdown Lakers for Thursday. Brian Komenetsky, Andy Komeneski, Luca Donchich plays well again, but Slovenia is eliminated from Eurobaskets. What's next for him? And when is LeBron going to retire? All that next. You are Locked on Lakers.

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Starting point is 00:00:45 Andy, all of whom are excited that once again, Luca Donchich dominates in Eurobasket play, but probably at least somewhat relieved, many of them at least, that Luca Donchich has been eliminated from Eurobasket play. Slovenia loses to Germany. 9991 is the final. Germany is, I would say, the prohibitive favorite. that France has been eliminated to win the thing. And so, Luca, to say the least, Andy did yeoman's work keeping Slovenia in both the game and

Starting point is 00:01:17 the tournament more broadly. We'll get into some comments made by Brian Winhorst about the potential for a LeBron James retirement. But let's start, Andy, with Eurobasket. Another great game from Luca, nothing to be ashamed of as they exit the tournament, even though Luca himself was not pleased with his own performance. And also he was displeased with the referees, which lets you know, we're back, baby.

Starting point is 00:01:43 Luca is back. Putting up numbers, pissed off at the refs. Left's effing go, people. 39 points for Luca on 11 of 25 shooting. It was really the three ball, which had started to tick up over the last couple of games, but ultimately did in Luca's official.

Starting point is 00:02:03 5 of 16 from behind the arc. I get the very strong impression. It was not a game I was able to see the entirety of, but there was a lot of, I need to put up every shot I possibly can to keep pace with this German team. You've also got 10 rebounds, seven assists. Let me read you Luca's numbers over seven Eurobasket games. He is averaging roughly, or averaged, I should say, because Slovenia is now out of the tournament. Roughly 35 points a game, nine rebounds, seven assists, three steals,

Starting point is 00:02:38 and 14 trips to the line. And like, obviously Luca is going to be disappointed that Slovenia couldn't go any further. And he would be the first to say, whether realistically or not, it is on me, my responsibility to carry my team through anything.

Starting point is 00:02:59 But the reality is, is the type of work that he would need to do, the type of performance to bring Slovenia past a far more complete team in Germany, you would be talking about like a 50 to 60 point, very efficient. You know, it was a relatively close game, but I feel like in order to control something like this, Luca would need to be putting up like 50 points on 25. five shots, something insane.

Starting point is 00:03:32 He did everything he could. I think it's fair to say he did everything he couldn't. Yep. Look, Slovenia, these are, you know, in the grand scheme of things, excellent basketball players and all this, but this is one of the, you know, the best tournaments in the world. And in terms of international play, in terms of, you know, how you measure international play,

Starting point is 00:03:57 Slovenia had Luca, one more guy. who I think plays in those like those sort of the top European at that level of the top European leagues and then that's it and so you know you compare that to a team like Germany or Serbia who had already been eliminated or some of these other squads you know the Germans have multiple players with you know who are current NBA players other players who have been in the league and then other guys beyond that who play in top European leagues. And so this was this is like taking your your team in the NBA to the Western Conference

Starting point is 00:04:37 finals where it's you and a lot of guys from the G league. It's like it's not that these guys are bad ball players because I mean they're really good. It's just you know at the lay you know compared to the competition. So it just is a it was another it was a great way for Luca to finish. You mentioned averaging three steals. The guy was even nominated for the best defender of the tournament award, which is not something that you hear very often when people are talking about Lucas, you know, that kind of performance on that side of the ball. It's just like it was an outstanding tournament in every way. The Slovenians overperformed to to some degree

Starting point is 00:05:20 making the round the final eight is an enormous achievement. For for Slovenian basketball. Luca, you read the numbers, and nobody got hurt. I mean, all in all, this is as perfect as script as I think anybody really could have put together.

Starting point is 00:05:40 And it's a really good, it's a good incentive as far as Luca to maintain the conditioning that he undertook this summer for the transformation into Skinny Luca. These are also really good, tune up games for getting the basketball, you know, back under him again after spending so much of that conditioning time, not picking up a ball at all, which Lucas said was killing him. But this was,

Starting point is 00:06:08 this was the plan with his team. And they said, we're going to be doing basically everything but basketball, working all the different muscles, changing diet, yada, yada, yada. But you still got to get that timing back, that comfort level back. And it feels like, Like Luca has that back over the course of this tournament. He's got about two and a half weeks now to wind down, then ramp back up again, get a little bit of a break before training camp starts. And it feels like it's just long enough to get some degree of rest, but not long enough that you worry about him losing any conditioning, any fitness routine. discipline, whatever. So like you said, all in all, I know there were a lot of listeners and viewers who thought that we're focusing too much on the prospect of Luca getting hurt. And maybe that

Starting point is 00:07:06 is true. But either way, it's good to see him get out in one, get out of it in one piece. And it's really good to see him messaging continually just how excited he seems to be to start this season. And I've talked about this before. There has been this summer a serious let's eff and go vibe that is being projected to Luca that I imagine is going to be picked up by all of his teammates. Well, I just, I look at it this way. And I was going to maybe save this for a little bit later. But I just, I feel like there is a swagger that a team has when you have one of those dudes. when you take the floor with that guy,

Starting point is 00:07:54 the Denver Nuggets have Nikola Yokic. And they know that any time they play, they have a good chance of winning the game, even if the rest of them kind of suck, because Yokic is just that good. The Lakers used to take the floor with a swagger because they knew that they had a killer in Kobe Bryant. Like, that just breeds a certain level of confidence in your team.

Starting point is 00:08:30 Everybody knows how good Luca is. That's not the issue. But the question is, like, the Lakers didn't get to feel that swagger as much last year because when they got Luca, he was hurt. He didn't quite get a chance. It wasn't like they traded for him. He came on and just, immediately took everything by storm and did all this. That's not how it worked. He was not fully

Starting point is 00:08:55 healthy. Mentally, he was not exactly in the perfect headspace having been shockingly traded by a team that he did not want to leave. And so you stack all these things. And we've talked about him throughout the year. It wasn't Luca Luca that the Lakers played with. They played with Luca Donchich. And the results were pretty good. In his worst statistical year, basically, Luca still put up some really impressive numbers, but it wasn't the experience. And next year, the Lakers are going to walk into every game with that what we just saw in the Eurobasket, the swagger and the confidence that it brings them. And oh, by the way, they still have LeBron. who has his own cachet in that regard too.

Starting point is 00:09:50 Well, I was going to say before we go to the break, just the difference is you get this level of Luca production, but hopefully more efficiently and to some degree more easily because he's just got more burden sharing. You know, beyond the confidence that a guy like LeBron can provide and all of that other stuff, just Luca's the number one guy on this team. He is going to be carrying the heaviest burden,

Starting point is 00:10:15 but not all heavy burdens are created. created equally. Oh, sure. Yeah. The burden he'll carry for the Lakers is not. Let's talk a little bit more about that, though, because I'm not, I'm comparing it just from what the Lakers saw last year to what. Sure.

Starting point is 00:10:26 No, I, I understand. Your point, though, about the burden of Eurobasket versus the burden of what he's going to play with the Lakers is an interesting one as well. So let's do that next. Locked on Lakers is brought to you by five hour energy drink. It's time to fuel up and turn it up with five hour energy transfusion. It combines the grape, ginger, and lime flavors of your favorite. favorite golf drink into a quick, energizing shot, whether you're sinking birdies or just making

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Starting point is 00:11:36 golf trip for two to any golf tournament in the USA. T-up that trip. Visit this website, the number five, h-e-win.com for full rules and entry, no purchase necessary again, 5HEWIN.com. This excludes the Masters Tournament. It ends October 31st, 2025. So I think the point you're making, like I said, I think there is a confidence that you get from showing up with one of those guys,

Starting point is 00:12:13 the just most elite players in the NBA. And it's different, you know, it's different even than the Anthony Edwards or, you know, Maybe those guys feel the same about it, but like a Donovan Mitchell or Jalen Brunson or whatever. I consider him at that level, but others may disagree. Others may not. Or Jalen Brunson or Donovan Mitchell or whatever it is. Those guys are unbelievable and can win games for you. But like it's different.

Starting point is 00:12:40 Like when you have Yokic, when you have Luca, when you have prime LeBron, when you have all this stuff. So I just, you know, and the Lakers get that for next year. They can show up every night. really competent they have two of those guys because LeBron's sort of residual status as one of those guys and the inspiration I think players will talk about of just kind of being like damn he's still doing that at

Starting point is 00:13:10 41 like all this stuff like that will help them that is part of the sort of the mental game that you bring in but I think the point you were making going into the break though Andy is a good one because Slovenia needed superhuman Luca in every single game to get as far

Starting point is 00:13:30 as they did. I think that, you know, realistically speaking, they were not going to go far so that, or you know, they were not going to go far if Luca had a bad game at any point. Like, you know, a couple in a row and they were done. I think, you know,

Starting point is 00:13:48 the Lakers will obviously be built around Luca. They will run through Luca. They are a Luca's team. But like you say, he doesn't have to be this good every single game for the Lakers to be competitive. Well, if he has to be this good, every single game for the Lakers to be competitive, he might as well not bother because they're not going anywhere. I think it's a good point. He better not need to be that good. You and I covered the Kobe's 2006 season, the one where he averaged 35 points a game. It was the first year that Phil Jackson returned, the first of the Kwame Smush years.

Starting point is 00:14:27 And it was a season that in retrospect, Kobe who finished second and MVP vote, no, no, fourth, I believe he was fourth that year. I can't. I'm terrible remembering these years. I think he was fourth. But in retrospect, he should have won MVP that year. like if anybody could propel their team a few rounds just on their play, it would have been Kobe that season, and they got bounced in the first round. Like there's only so much any one player, for the most part,

Starting point is 00:15:01 there are obviously exceptions. And, you know, Dirk Novitsky is remembered for a finals run where he did a lot of heavy lifting that year and in the postseason. But for the most part, there's only so much one guy can do, particularly in a conference as rough as the West. But as we talked about, good health assumed that Luke is not going to have to do that. It's just great for him to,

Starting point is 00:15:26 I think in a lot of ways it is great for him because it's something he takes a lot of pride in to bear that level of responsibility in this particular setting. But for, I guess, what is his day job, the Lakers, you don't want that and he won't have to. That leadership thing is something I hadn't really thought about because like we all know that the that the you know the the the the the basketball part of it the lakers are tailoring everything that they're doing now for luca as they should like this is you know

Starting point is 00:15:59 i i the view of people commenting that we get it on the youtube page twitter whatever um i know there are people out there who are tired of the lebron experience or whatever it might be like I am not. I am very much still into watching him play and the contributions he makes and, you know, the value that he brings as a team leader and all that stuff. It's Luca's team. That said, you know, LeBron, when you talk about like, you know, we used to have this conversation with Anthony Davis where like it needs to be Anthony Davis's team at least on the floor. Like you need, you know, AD to be the team's best player. Luca obviously needs to be the team's best player,

Starting point is 00:16:46 but I also think, you know, he's at a level and at an age to where, and, you know, the position of where they are with the Lakers in like the next decade of him being on this team, he kind of needs to sort of take over that other stuff. And we got a little bit of a feel for the leadership aspects of Luca and stuff in Eurobasket. as he steps back into a team that still will have LeBron,

Starting point is 00:17:14 and that dynamic could be a little bit interesting, how Luca, so how he doesn't worry about big footing LeBron James, because he's respectful of LeBron. He respects the talent, he respects the career and all that kind of stuff. And this is a place where LeBron is going to have to do a good job reading the room and giving Luca the sort of the, space to to become that voice and be that voice in the face in the locker room and in front

Starting point is 00:17:48 of the media. It's not so it was just something that I thought of while you were talking in the stuff that you mentioned with his reaction to how they how they played, how he did the officiating all that stuff. It'll be interesting too. I mean, LeBron, I think last season did actually a very outward, intentional and good job of allowing Luca the space to be ingratiated. Remember the first time Luca was introduced in the Crypto.com lineup. He gave Luca the final introduction that normally goes to LeBron. That's always for the person on the team with the highest stature.

Starting point is 00:18:27 We'll see what, I mean, look, we're going to get into this. We're going to see what's going to happen next year with Luca and LeBron on a bunch of different levels. I don't think Luca is as naturally vocal, leader as LeBron is. So on some levels, it's going to be a matter of Luca asserting himself as much as it is LeBron giving him that space to. Right.

Starting point is 00:18:53 And I should say there's a difference between what this will look like in the locker room on the practice floor during games, things like that, then what it'll look like in front of the media. Right. You know, I should make that distinction. And, you know, the idea of, I think. Luca is very much going out of his way. Like you said, not to have any appearances of big footing. LeBron, I think he has genuinely too much respect for that. He also,

Starting point is 00:19:21 Luca is more of a killer on the court and more of like a big personality on the court than off it. Like that doesn't necessarily feel like his style anyway. But, I mean, if you really want to dig into this, the organization is doing a lot of the big footing for Luca in making it very clear. It's Lucas team. And as we've talked about a lot, not necessarily is exactly how they should be doing it. Right. Yes, it absolutely is. Luca is 26. I'm just saying the organization clearing the way in that way. Right. It's a smart way to do it. Absolutely. He is the generational superstar that is the first generational superstar. Somebody capable of taking a team to the finals as the main guy that the Lakers have had in their prime since Kobe.

Starting point is 00:20:10 So obviously that guy is going to take, you know, front and center importance and priority. And while I think LeBron, we've talked about, there is clearly some degree of tension and disconnect between LeBron and the Lakers, LeBron towards the Lakers. I personally think it is more about the contract that the Lakers didn't offer LeBron than the idea and and sort of what that represents, then the idea of LeBron having to cede territory to LeBron or see, I mean, territory to Luca,

Starting point is 00:20:45 that sort of thing. Like he had done that for Anthony Davis to some degree. He had done it even on smaller levels for Austin. The difference, though, is LeBron never felt deprioritized in the process. Right. Now he clearly is. So that's going to be a dynamic moving forward. So is, by the way,

Starting point is 00:21:06 the question of how much longer LeBron's actually even going to play in the first place. So you can talk about that coming up next. So if you're going to listen to other basketball podcasts, which I guess you can when you're done listening to ours

Starting point is 00:21:27 and maybe you make another locked on podcast or second listen of the day, maybe for your third listen of the day, listen to the hoop collective. Andy, maybe that's your thing. And if you were listening recently, you got to hear Brian Winhorse talking about the potential future of LeBron James and exactly how long he thinks LeBron might

Starting point is 00:21:50 play, whether LeBron thinks LeBron might play that long. There is tremendous speculation, Andy, as to how long this show is going to continue. From Brian Winhorse, quote, now as far as LeBron's future, I know there's a lot of speculations. Based on my conversations, I think they, they being LeBron. Rich Paul, team LeBron, don't know. As far as I know, he's honestly going year to year. Could this be his last year? Yes.

Starting point is 00:22:18 Will it be his last year? I don't know. Does he know right now? Maybe. But my interpretation is that it has not been established. He will see where he's at at the end of the year. And obviously, I'm not disputing any of Brian Winhorse's reporting, you know, the people he's spoken with whatever.

Starting point is 00:22:36 He is more source than I will ever be, particularly in the world of. LeBron. But the way Brian talked about this, it sounded to me at least, and I know others interpreted this way as well, that LeBron either will announce he's retiring at the beginning of the season, or he's going to table it until the end of the season, offseason, whatever, with no real in between, which, you know, there's also, I think, something of an inference that LeBron would need to make up his mind early, make this sort of announcement. So the league, and I think too, LeBron can map out the sort of retirement tour that I think LeBron would both want and obviously deserve. Plus, damn straight, the league wants him to have it because so much filth a lucre that can be

Starting point is 00:23:31 made from that. And here is where, if I'm correct in my interpretation of Wendy's comments, I think he is mistaken in one aspect. LeBron does not need to make it clear that he's going to retire during media day or during preseason in order for there to be some type of retirement tour if he decided he wanted this year to be his last one. And we know this because, and I think this has been lost over time, like Brian and I when we were talking about this, he had forgotten until I reminded him. Kobe did not announce formally his retirement until November 30th of the final, like a month into the season. And they still managed to put together a full farewell tour, you know, the quite literal carnival outside Staples Center for the last game.

Starting point is 00:24:24 There's like, I walked past a Ferris wheel to get inside the building. It was literally a carnival-like atmosphere. You can do these things that I think the league and LeBronham would be. both want without LeBron committing to something in the next two and a half weeks. Right. And I don't know exactly the details, how many people might have been tipped off to this or whatever. There is contextually, obviously a difference between Kobe at that stage where certainly we were not surprised to see the announcement coming. It was pretty clear that he was going to retire. Although Byron Scott, though, the amount of minutes he played him in

Starting point is 00:25:04 the first month before Kobe announced the retirement and they went through a plan. They were not treating it as a given because they were not taking enough care of Kobe to guarantee it to get through the season. They were playing him. I mean, I remember asking and even arguing a bit with Byron about this. They were playing Kobe at a level that it would have been impossible for him to get through the season.

Starting point is 00:25:26 Byron had a tendency to just forget how old Kobe was. I mean, you know what? I just had that kind of a blind spot. there where he just didn't, he just sort of didn't see it. I asked Byron, I still remember this almost 10 years later because it's one of the most honest and open and a lot of ways vulnerable responses I've ever heard from a coach because, you know, Byron and Kobe were extremely close.

Starting point is 00:25:52 And when Kobe came in the league, you know, it's famously he rubbed a lot of veterans the wrong way. But Byron was his mentor during his rookie season, Byron's last year in the league. And, you know, I asked Byron when it was announced that Kobe's going to retire, we're going to come up with a plan, get him through the season. I asked him, like, is it hard for you to see Kobe as anything other than that dude in his prime? And, you know, Byron could have been like, you know, of course not. I know who Kobe is or he could have like denied that Kobe was slipping at all. But instead he's just like, yeah, it is.

Starting point is 00:26:26 He's like, it's really hard. And like, you could tell that it kind of hurt Byron to have to see him. any other way. So my, you know, so I mean, my point being like, you know, the league could sort of anticipate that being the end and have something together, you know, it was teams had sort of two or three years to prepare for, you know, for for that retirement tour like to think about what gift we might want to give him the last time he comes in, all that kind of kind of stuff. And he did make a movie to announce that retirement, which you had to remind, you know, remind me of, like there was a whole animated thing.

Starting point is 00:27:03 So there was some, my point. Dear basketball began as a poem in the Players Tribune. It did not begin as a film. His announcement was Dear Basketball in written form that was handed. I remember it was handed out there. That's true. That's true.

Starting point is 00:27:18 And then it became the Oscar winning short. But, you know, there's still my point being there's still a little bit of least. You're right about that. But there was some lead up there. It's possible people knew. And there was a little bit of tip off. But even if they didn't know explicitly, I think people understood implicitly. But yeah, you're right.

Starting point is 00:27:37 That's a good point. It's why I rely on you to keep chronologies because I can't. It's different with LeBron. And so, you know, there is likely not to be a massive stained drop-off in his play that indicates the end is near. you know so i don't know if if you'll get that sort of opportunity if he no look if he just decides he's a month and a half into the season and he decides you know what i'm not doing this again i'm this is going to be it and whatever that's enough time like that there may not he won't be able to visit every stadium and he won't be able to see every place because

Starting point is 00:28:22 there are a couple places the way the schedule works now or the lakers will have already visited or whatever it might be. But for the most part, the league could provide that kind of farewell tour. It would create, you know, he would get that and all that stuff. I just don't think it's going to work that way. I think, especially if the Lakers are competitive, and I think they will be. I don't think he's, A, I don't think he's going to change the subject, which is what that would be. I mean, you know, you imagine, you know, the reaction if LeBron, the Lakers are tooth and nail right behind, you know, Houston for a three-seat or Denver or whoever it is, and they're playing great basketball and Luca's been awesome and all this other stuff. And LeBron in January announces that he's going to retire. Like it would be a nightmare in terms of the reaction, selfish LeBron, undermining the Lakers, hates Luca.

Starting point is 00:29:24 Like all of these things can't stand not having the attention. So to some degree, people are going to say that regardless. They might. But if he does it in the, if he says at the end of the year, either I'm done, everybody's like, damn, I guess he's gone. Or I think next year is going to be my last one. Like I'm going to think about it. But then everybody goes into the season.

Starting point is 00:29:44 You prepare for whatever. You're not changing the subject. That is the subject. At some point, he's going to have to retire. And so if the Lakers are playing really well, I think he's going to want to be part of that and he's not going to want to undermine it. I think it will encourage him to keep playing.

Starting point is 00:30:01 I think it encourages and keep playing. And by the way, if the Lakers are really competitive, it also raises the odds that he's on the Lakers again next year. Look, for what it's worth, I don't think this coming season is going to be LeBron's last season. But let's just say he did decide a month and a half into the season. You know what? I'm having a good time. I'm still playing well, but I just, I am feeling it in my body.

Starting point is 00:30:28 This is the last one I got in me. And he lets it be known. Obviously, you are correct. That will be a circus and that will be something tough to navigate. You and I covered Kobe's final season in the league. We were around the team all the time. It was difficult for those guys to navigate getting Kobe through the season in one piece as well as possible. Some games Kobe played in those games, everything centered around Kobe, the games Kobe didn't play. They were pretending to develop DeAngelo Russell and Julius Randall. And should be noted, that team sucked. Well, I was going to say it made it a lot easier. Right. Well, it was not easy even with low stakes. So with higher stakes, it could be difficult. There is always, though, a chance that it could be, especially if they're

Starting point is 00:31:14 playing well, and depending on how LeBron let this be known, there could be a galvanizing effect to it. Like the idea of wanting to send LeBron out on top, like that sort of storybook ending for one of the all-time greats. It could, so it's clear, it could go either way. And probably would. It probably would go both ways. It would be framed as one last one for the old man, for the guys who, you know, are supportive and drama queen for everybody who isn't. So you're right. No, that's a good point. And to be honest, I don't know exactly what it would be or how it could be. Again, even with the best intentions, and you and I both think LeBron, if he wants a farewell tour, he's perfectly entitled to it, he's earned it, and I don't blame him at all.

Starting point is 00:32:06 I mean, even acknowledging the league will lean on him to have. Right. I mean, even acknowledging, you know, LeBron loves him a spotlight, he's allowed to love himself a spotlight. And frankly, Luca loves himself a spotlight. They just have very different personalities in their love of it. But the fact that LeBron loves a spotlight is not a negative. I mean, Kobe loved himself a spotlight.

Starting point is 00:32:28 And I'm pretty sure everyone in this audience loved Kobe. Yep. It would be interesting to see. I agree with you. I think it's a bit of. And Wendy, by the way, was not speculating on exactly. The whole point of this was that nobody really knows. Right.

Starting point is 00:32:42 I just, I don't. Which I also think is believable, by the way. Oh, 100%. But I also, the fact that nobody knows indicates to me that if he plays at a level that is similar to what he did last year and there's no reason to believe that it won't, he's coming back for another one. Not necessarily with the Lakers, not with the Lakers. I don't know. But if he does what he did last year or something in the neighborhood, it's not going to be his last season. Yeah.

Starting point is 00:33:13 Locked on Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out with over 36,000 subscribers to the channel. Leave us questions. Leave us comments. Perhaps Andy will open up the mailbag again for Friday's show. So we'll put that out there for you all. Send us the questions you want us to answer. We'll try to get that done on the show. Hey, you have a great Thursday. We'll see you tomorrow.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić Dominates Again, but Slovenia Is Eliminated... Plus, When Will LeBron Retire?

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