Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Doncic Expresses Surprise—and Strong Motivation—at First Lakers Press Conference

Episode Date: February 4, 2025

The Luka Doncic era with the Lakers is now truly, TRULY official, as the Slovenian superstar (along with fellow newcomer Maxi Kleiber and former Laker returnee Markieff Morris) was introduced to the media by Vice President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka. The topics discussed included the excitement for this new era of Lakers basketball, the reports of conditioning and bad defense leading to the Dallas Mavericks trading Doncic, the impending LeBron James/Luka Doncic oncourt duo, what additional moves might be coming before the trade deadline, and more. HOSTS: Andy and Brian Kamenetzky 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! PrizePicks Download the app and use code lockedonnfl to win $50 instantly when you play $5. You don't even need to win to receive your $50 bonus, it's guaranteed! Prizepicks. Run Your Game.Click Here: https://prizepicks.onelink.me/LME0/LOCKEDONNBA BetterHelp This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp. Rediscover your curiosity with BetterHelp. Visit BetterHelp.com/LOCKEDONNBA today to get 10% off your first month. Robinhood With Robinhood Gold, you can now enjoy the VIP treatment. The new Gold Standard is here with Robinhood Gold. To receive 3% boost on annual IRA contributions,  sign up at robinhood.com/gold. Gametime Download 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. FanDuel Super Bowl 59 is here, And there’s no better way to make every play more exciting than with FanDuel Sportsbook. New customers can bet just FIVE DOLLARS, and if you win, you’ll score TWO HUNDRED BUCKS in Bonus Bets. Download the app or head to FANDUEL.COM to get started. Bet with FanDuel—Official Partner of Super Bowl Fifty-Nine. 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 https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

Hey, everyone, welcome to a special bonus midday Locked on Lakers. Brian Keminetsky, Andy Keminetsky, Luca Dantz, meets the media in El Segundo Tuesday morning. What did he have to say? Andy was there. Talk about it next. You are locked on Lakers. Your daily Los Angeles Lakers podcast. Part of the Locked on Podcast Network, your team every day.

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New customers can bet $5. And if you win, you'll score $200 in bonus bets. Download the app or head to fanduel.com to get started. So Andy, Luca Donchich met the media in L.A. on Tuesday morning, and you know it was a big deal because the Lakers were serving food. Yep. And I clarified the catering spread that was out there was not just for Luca himself. Boom! kidding. Kidding. It's a joke. It's a Miko Harrison joke right there. It's a joke. Relax. No, the Lakers were fully aware that this was a very big deal. We've talked before, a joke before, that Rob Polinka is not one for subtlety in these sort of moments.

And, you know, his near opening comments after thanking Anthony Davis, thanking Max Christie, thanking Jalen O'Jafino, Chafino, thanking, thanking Nico Harrison from the Mavericks as being like, you know, a good trade partner and all this. But he said, quote, I think Luca Donchish joining forces with the Los Angeles Lakers is a seismic event in NBA history. The reason I say that is because we have a 25-year-old global superstar that's going to get on stage with the most popular and influential basketball brand on the globe. I think when those powerful forces come together, it brings basketball joy to the world because that's how Luca plays. He plays with joy. And he later said, when you think about kids in Barcelona or kids in Buenos Aires, children in Shanghai or Sydney, they're going to be wearing a number 77 Luca D'Anche's Lakers jersey and bringing joy to basketball. just like he does, and that's why it's powerful. Rob Polinka may be prone to the flowery

and the grand statements. We all remember Contabious Caldwell, Pope, Mana from heaven. In this case, though, reading the alchemist, you know, these are the things that, if you're new to the Lakers, these are things that literally have happened. No, no, we're not making press conferences. We're not making jokes. We're relaying history.

Right. But in this particular case, 100% correct. This is a. massive seismic event. Seismic is actually a great word to describe it. It's it's show hey like I'm not saying that Luca is the same level of star maybe is I'm not I don't even want to have that discussion but it's it's that type of global survey Anthony Davis is a superstar he is a domestic NBA superstar and a fairly low key one at that and that is not a criticism of AD it's the reality. Luca is not only a superstar in the NBA, he is a global star. And that no question

is something that the Lakers were very interested in. And I, you know, you start to see, you get all these people in the room. And, you know, Rob clearly had, was very pleased, rightly so with the work he did. And what had a big smile on his face and and relaying the, the details of how this went down. But it started, it starts with Luca. And his reaction to it was the same as everyone else's. He's like, I, what? He said, like, I had to double check to make sure it wasn't April 1st,

you know, April Fool's Day. And this was some sort of prank. He found out, you know, I don't say at the same time as the rest of us, but not a whole hell of a lot earlier than we did. No. And he said that it was a quote, big shock, you know, that it was hard at first, which is understandable. I mean, he said in his goodbye to Dallas, and I think it was sincere.

And all the reporting surrounding Luca's time in Dallas had been that it was mutually expect, if not expected, anticipated hope for, however you want to put it, that Luca could be the next great lifer that franchise like Dirk Novitsky was. You know, it's not, it's not, well, I guess it's a coincidence in terms of when Luca happened to enter the NBA, but from a, you know, emblematic poetic standpoint, it's not a coincidence that Dirk's final season in the NBA coincided with Luca's rookie season. You have that true passing of the baton that everybody within the organization, including Dirk, who tweeted out a surprise face when this happened, you know, Mark Cuban. has through Chandler Parsons on the running back show with Michelle Beatle and Lou Williams, you know, the two of them are very tight.

Mark Cuban has expressed surprise with this and I think soft disapproval. Nobody expected this, including Donchich, and it will, even though he sounded excited for this next chapter, it's going to take him a minute to a judge. And I don't blame him. Here's the part of this that I think we're. works really well for Lakers fans. Luca, while he said a couple times, I think, you know, I'm not going to take, I'm not going to comment about directly about what, you know, they said or this or that.

You know, he said, I kind of talked about taking the high road and not getting into a battle with Nico Harrison about the comments that he made. He's pissed. Like the stuff that was said about him on the way out of Dallas, he did acknowledge it hurt. But he's, it made him mad. And you and I always make the joke. Like for years, like in Portland, they would pull strings and do all the kinds of stuff they could do to make sure that Damian Liller didn't make the All-Star team.

Because afterwards, he'd be so angry at everybody. He'd go out like February, March, April, and average like 38 and 15. Like, he was so mad. Luca is, he said, very motivated by what was said about him by Nico Harrison on the way out the door, the reporting of concerns about his weight, uns seriousness, conditioning, all of these other things. And an angry Luca Donchich, when it comes to, you know, the idea of, you know, needs to be more fit. That's a great thing, a great thing for the Lakers. The hope for Laker fans inside the Lakers organization is that this motivates Luca and you get the equivalent of the woman who has a bad breakup and reacts with her revenge body.

And that Luca is just, he's going to emerge this season and moving forward, svelt, showing a little leg, wearing something a little low cut and reminding everyone, I look fine. you could have had this as I go destroy the Dallas Mavericks who have now landed on the list that the famously competitive and petty Luca Donchich has been keeping that includes everyone from, I guess now Nico Harrison, to someone like Chris Dunn. I want everyone's on this list. I want Luca to have so much vitriol for the organization. I'm not talking to the people of Dallas, the fans of Dallas, great city, great fans, all that. I want him to be so angry at the Mavericks for what they did to him that he's going to take it out on anybody,

not just who plays for the organization now, but maybe ever played for them, maybe has been to Dallas before, you know, played in that building. Like, that's close enough. Like, I want him to be that motivated. And it is interesting to me as well. Like you saw right away very prominently the infrastructure that Luca had had around himself in terms of his personal trainer and guys like that that they had run out of the building Nico Harris had in Dallas. All those guys were back.

Like they were there. And the Lakers are bringing those people back to Luca, both to make him feel more comfortable. Those are the people he wants around. and Lakers are going to cater. So, you know, that infrastructure, the Lakers wisely, I think, brought right back and made sure, like, who do you want to rent? LeBron has his own people.

There's no reason Luca can't have his own people. Yeah. And speaking of LeBron, Luca said that he has spoken briefly with LeBron. It sounded like LeBron was cognizant the way Luca talked about it. Like, look, I know your head is spinning and I get it. But he did say that LeBron reached out pretty quickly and that he appreciated it and that LeBron has been his idol, like for a long time. He described it as a dream come true to play with LeBron.

Marquith Morris, former Lakers champion and Maxi Klebo were also there. They did media afterwards. So, you know, it really would be Luca's moment. But, you know, Marquith has played with LeBron. and he noted that there are things that LeBron can teach Luca in terms of just reaching that next level, whether you're talking about in terms of conditioning, fitness, commitment to that side of it, or just that little piece that Luca may still not know as somebody who hasn't gotten all the way over the hump and winning a championship. And LeBron has been there, done that as anybody who's ever played in the league.

LeBron was not there. I would not read anything into it. It's a game day. He's got a routine. Look, if LeBron does show up, then all of a sudden people are going to say, oh, LeBron won't even let Luca have his moments. He sort of steals the, right, right.

I would read nothing. I've heard a few people read into it. I would read nothing into it at all. As far as what comes next, though, I mean, I asked Rob, towards the end of the press conference, just what it meant in terms of the big picture and designing a roster and the planning that you do as a GM. And all these guys look three, four years ahead.

Just knowing that you have Luca Donchich, that's your roadmap, hopefully for a decade. And he said, quote, it's a gift. We're talking about a 25-year-old that is a top three player in the universe. I can't think of a more amazing starting point to build the roster for the next decade. I know he has the drive to win that we have. Our fans are going to see that every night on the court. I know up here he may seem calm and casual and quiet, but we know the alter ego that comes out.

We'll see it at crypto.com arena soon, and I can't wait for it. Like, Rob was rightly through the moon with this, and he should be. Because we've talked before about like the idea of this season especially with LeBron now 40, Anthony Davis, still in his prime, but the back end of his prime. And you and I, I think, have been as patient as anybody who covers this team with the idea of they don't have to go in all in every single second. Like, you can take a beat, think over stuff. You don't want to just make big moves for the sake of it. But we reached a place where it's like, if you're not going to commit now to

LeBron and Anthony Davis all in, given how little time, forget with LeBron that you even have with AD in his prime, then you need to make a very active choice towards pivoting out of it. This was this was not the move I expected, but this sets them up moving forward in ways that it's so valuable for Rob to have that clarity moving forward. You know, the immediate, we'll talk about it. Rob acknowledged there's some TBD is in terms of this season. But the big picture, it is in, other than maybe San Antonio and Wembe, there's, I don't think there's a team in the league in OKC with Shay.

Okay. Yeah, there's Shea and Chet and. Right. And OKC that set up, the Spurs. And I would say now the Lakers are probably the only teams that have this type of clarity moving forward with this type of runway. And I think two things about that. The first thing is, you know, Rob seemed to imply that, you know, obviously the big need.

is center and the market is thin but that they're you know sort of dry dry and you know you wouldn't expect him be like yeah we're going to do whatever we can't like we're in the final you know 30 something hours of this and you know he's not going to be out here negotiating against himself in the polinker he's probably wondering if nico harrison has anybody else in Dallas and he'd like to get rid up. But, you know, rhymes with Daniel Dafford. Right. I mean, he's, I hear that guy, Nico, I've heard terrible things about Daniel Dafford.

It's my understanding. Derek lively, that dude never stops eating ever. I'd get him out of there. Bad influence. I've seen him at the club at four or five in the morning on a Tuesday. You know, so he eats during games. It's disgusting. Bad thing.

He drinks vegetable oil. So they'll try to make a move and they're going to be looking around for it. But I think we'll quit here. But Lakers playing tonight against the Clippers will obviously be back after the game. It's part of the reason we wanted to come on now because after the game, at least some of that will be taken up with talking about the game. The thing that I think annoys opposing GMs most is that clarity that you're talking about, that the gift that they were given.

Rob's right. It is a gift. It's not an overstatement because the Lakers were going to have to spend at least two or three or four seasons kind of wandering the wilderness probably after they break it all down to try to have to build it back up. I don't know if they're going to win a title with Luca Donchage. Nobody does. But they don't, they skip that process because they've got their star. And it's not one of these situations where they're going to be forced to sign some guy like Joe L. Embed who's injured and you know, or Paul George or Kauai Leonard where you know the risk is just so massive and eventually it's going to kind of probably crater on you.

He's 25. Right. 25. There's risks with everything. Everything. That's the part that has the rest of the league so angry. So anyway, Lock the Lakers on YouTube is where you can go hang out again with over 30,000 subscribers to the channel.

We will be back, Andy, later after the game. First, this. Well, that Locked on Lakers is sponsored by Better Help. What are some of your relationship green flags? We often hear about red flags that we should avoid, but what if we focused more on identifying the positive signs in our relationship, those red flags, excuse me, the green flags. And if you're not sure what they look like, therapy can help you identify them,

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