Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Luka Dončić's Relationship with Teammates and the Lakers: Tim MacMahon Interview, Part III

Episode Date: March 28, 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. In part III of our interview with MacMahon, we discuss Luka's relationship with teammates and whether the Lakers are positioned to keep him happy. 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 Money Take control of your finances with Monarch Money. Use code LOCKEDONNBA at monarchmoney.com for 50% off your first year 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 Right 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 podcast where we talk with ESPN's Tim McMahon about his new book detailing the life and career of Luca Donchich. Part 3. The finale is 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 of every day, Monday through Friday and occasionally on. weekends everywhere you get your podcast. It's always free. It's never going to be behind a paywall. And Lockdown Lakers on YouTube is where you can watch with a community of over 34,000 subscribers, really fun, smart, energetic group of really just rabid Laker fans, leaving a lot of comments. We try to use your thoughts, incorporate them into the show. So always we encourage it. And whether you are listening to Lockdown Lakers, watching Locked on Lakers,

always be subscribing, so you never miss a show. Last week, Brian and I talked with Tim McMahon about his new book, The Wonder Boy, Luca Donchich, and The Curse of Greatness, which was released earlier this week, Tuesday, March 25th. And we covered a lot of ground. And the interview was too long for the locked on format, but rather than cut it up into a ton of different edits and whatnot, we ultimately thought that does not serve our audience as well. We want you guys to get as much insight as possible.

So we divided it up into an installment for the entire week. And today we cover Luca's relationship with teammates and whether he is set up for success and happiness long term with the Lakers. So here is the third and final part of our conversation with Tim McMahon. Tim McMahon with Wonderboy. It's just a really great book about Luca and a great way for Luka. and a great way for Lakers fans to get to know their newest star, their newest vengeful and spiteful and angry star, we hope. How are the Lakers doing in terms of setting up an architecture around him

that is going to make him happy that is going to give the best possibility for him to be successful here over the long term? What should they be doing? Well, I think they're off to a hell of a start, and I think there were some really critical things that were in place, frankly coincidentally or fortunately in place before they even imagined that this trade was possible. Like the fact that JJ Redick, who's proven, he's a damn good coach. Like, okay, he can coach it higher than the sixth grade level.

We know that for sure now. But JJ very briefly was Lucas teammate with Dallas, but they clicked. And, you know, like the fact that, and I know Luca referenced this during his first press conversation, And the fact that Luca went on JJ's podcast twice, again, the guy who treats media like math homework, that tells you how much he actually really likes and appreciates and enjoys JJ Reddick. And, you know, when I was in L.A., when the Mavericks played the Lakers, I asked JJ, I was like, okay, I know you've got a really good relationship with Luca. How do you kind of transition from buddies to that coach player dynamic?

And JJ said, basically, he said, hey, are you okay with being coached hard? And are you okay with direct communication? Lucas said yes on both and, you know, off they go. And so I think that is, I think that's a great coach to be in place coincidentally, you know, for Luke to play with. The fact they made that trade for Dorian Finney Smith, like Dorian Finney Smith is one of Lucas' all-time favorite teammates. and like, look, they gave him up in the Kyrie trade, you know, at that point they so desperately needed a co-star. But it had, you know, like Luca had talked multiple times over the last couple of years of like, you know, I think Dodo's going to be back here at some point to talk about in Dallas. So the fact that he was in L.A., that, oh, my guy Dodo, you know, and knows how to play off Lucas is like a perfect complimentary fit.

That that's awesome. and then, you know, LeBron, Luca grew up, like, he couldn't watch a bunch of NBA games, but he could see highlights. I don't like that. He could see highlights and grew up. You know, LeBron was one of his idols

growing up in Slovenia and then in Spain. You know, immense respect. And they had a kinship. You know, there's a, I can't say the name of the chapter, but bad, short and bad MFER from early in Lucas' second season when LeBron's greeting him and the ESPN cameras, it you a bad you know like that kind of mutual respect and like luka loved lebron so much the first

time they played each other lucca like a little kid stands outside he didn't even understand it you're sitting in an equipment guy or whatever or a locker room attendant he stood outside the lakers locker room to ask lebron hey we please sign your jersey for me that that's how much he loved the door LeBron and then look they're going about things the right way they're embracing the people who are around Luca that was not the case certainly this year in Dallas um and it's funny I was I was waiting to go uh to the post game press stuff the other night and I'm kind of waiting you know in that hallway outside the Lakers locker room and I saw Rob Polinka he wasn't wearing that Fonzie leather jacket he was wearing you know

wearing something similar. He has a variety. But he had the sleeves pushed up and the $100,000 watch on anyways. But he's walking with Luca to the locker room and he puts his arm, he's got his arm around Luca and he's whispering sweet nothing's in his ear. I was like, boy, that's a little bit different than the way things went down with the previous GM this season. And then look, they clearly understand there's a significant hole on this roster, right?

and Jackson Hayes is filling it to the best of his abilities now. I think you're seen with Jackson Hayes just how much Luca can maximize that type of rim-running, lop-catching big. You know, they temporarily addressed it with the Mark Williams trade that wasn't, with all the stuff that Polanco was able to keep in his pocket somehow when the matrix created his generational talent. But look, I'll tell you this. they understand its priority. It's not like they need Luca to tell them. I'm pretty sure they've seen this guy run pick and roll

for the last six and a half years. You know, it doesn't take a basketball genius to say, hey, you give that dude a lot, thread. Oh, baby. And that archetype of big man will be lining up to get to the Lakers. I can promise you that. Speaking of teammates and Luca

and the idea of the Lakers looking to build around Luca now and in the future. One of the things that jumped out of me in the book was how a lot, not all of it, but a lot of the clashes that Luca had with Rick Carlyle were less about him and Rick Carlisle and more about teammates. And, you know, like the way he felt Rick Carlyle was not treating Dennis Smith Jr. well or he got up, Luca got upset at the way Harrison Barnes found out that he was getting traded during a game, like, you know, live TV, that sort of But it seems like he has pretty strong relationships with teammates,

like that he does well in a locker room. A, is that accurate? And then B, is there any particular type that Lucas seems to gravitate towards or do well with? Yeah, I would say that's accurate for the most part. There have been exceptions. It's certainly accurate with teammates who Luca respects. No, can he be disrespectful of teams? teammates, if he feels like they're not holding their weight, like, will he look at the bench in the

middle of action and say, get him the out of here? Yeah, he'll do that on occasion. And like, look, there was the typical young co-star tension with him and Porzingis. Obviously, we dealt into that. Their relationship by the end was fine. The Mavericks just decided Porzzias wasn't in fit and moved on from him. But that was your typical, like, young ambitious co-stars, you know, Porzingis admits, you know, in hindsight that, hey, you know, it was tough for him to accept it wasn't a 1A, 1B. It was Lucas show and you're part of the, you know, you're like the headliner of the,

of the, you know, the backup singers. So, and, you know, Luca, I think has grown in his understanding of, okay, you've got the ball, you've got the keys. Part of that, the responsibilities are the ability to empower your teammates and ball and your teammates, those sort of things. It's very similar to how Kobe grew in the time that we covered Kobe. like the idea of trusting your teammates, but also you are the one empowering them. It's not just a matter of them keeping up with you.

You are the one actually helping them keep up with you. That is actually not just part of the responsibility, but part of the literal power you have as a player. Yeah. And then as far as the Rick Carlisle relationship, you know, I go in a depth on that team meeting in Toronto that was literally a week in a Lucas career. It was a disaster of a team meeting. It cracked and permanently damaged the foundation of probably the most important relationship for the franchise at the time. And he had a lot of

success under Rick, and I think Rick accelerated Lucas' ascension into superstardom. But look, there were a lot of doubts about whether Luca could be a primary ball handler. That's one of the reasons he wasn't the no-brainer first overall pick. And Rick, you know, did only give him the ball, but then built an offense to, to maximize them. But the personal relationship there was strained to say the least for almost their entire time together. And that put an expiration date on it. And we're going to take a quick break to let you know that Lockdown Lakers is brought to you by Fandall. March Madness is here.

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When you look at where we are now with the conference, with the late, Lakers, you know, Andy and I didn't quite buy into the, this is a trade for the future for the Lakers. They'll take a step back this year to take a step forward, mostly because they added Luca Donchich. It's like, are we sure they're going to get worse? They just added the, you know, third, fourth, fifth best player in the NBA to go along with LeBron James, to go along with Austin Reeves. Yeah. When you see what they've done, when you see how crowded the Western conferences, including the Mavericks, if they can ever get everybody back on the floor. Not included the Mavericks.

Okay, not including. Not including. I have a lot of people who still come here from. Like, Kyrie's not coming back this year. Oh, that's true. So, yeah. With Kyrie, maybe without, I think that's probably true. But where do you see the Lakers landing here?

Because I don't think they're going to be afraid of anybody. And we really haven't seen them against Oklahoma City with OKC looking the way they do now with so much more size. and the Lakers with Luca LeBron Reeves as the Corps. Yeah, so OKC is the clear-cut favorite. No question about that. Now, the Mavericks beat O'KC last year, interestingly, despite Luca not having even a decent series by his standards. Like Lou Dordt, Loodort's tough.

And Luke will tell you, Lou Dord's top three perimeter defender in the league. And, you know, it was Lou Dort with a lot of help. and they really, I mean, like Luca and Kyrie combined to average 40 points in that series, almost 20 less than their season average. And it was, you know, the PJ Washington's and Derek Jones juniors that really won that series for the Mavericks. But there will be no fear. There will be no fear. You know, there's like Luke and LeBron aren't going to walk out on any floor in any arena

and not think that they're going to be able to win that game or win that series. OKCC's the clear-cut favorites. I really, God, I was disappointed that we didn't get to see in either of the last couple meetings a reasonable rematch of the Lakers and the Nuggets. And I know the one time Luke was in uniform and the Nuggets, I don't remember if Gordon playing that game or not, but the Nuggets had their stars.

The Lakers smacked them. Now, obviously, the Nuggets have a pretty long history of whooping that Laker has. You know, I think, I think if you put them in the peck in order, I still would put Denver above them. But then the Lakers are right there. You got to give them at least a puncher's chance. And the most impressive thing to me about what the Lakers have been able to accomplish since the trade, where, like, at this point, we've got to say, look, man, the defense is like on paper. It doesn't make sense.

But on the floor, you got to respect it. You got to respect the consistency of it. and you got to respect the, you know, the statistical evidence of it. That's really impressive. And the fact they were able to put together so many wins. Well, Luca wasn't full-blown Luca. I mean, for a while. Like, it was, you know, it really was like Luca coming off of, you know,

like he was coming out of training camp in the preseason where he was out the whole time. I mean, this was the longest injury absence of his career in this case. But early this season, Luca wasn't right. The efficiency was way down. He's not hitting threes when he doesn't have his leg. His three-point shooting's not good. You know, and then they're still winning. I mean, they're winning games when Lucas shooting in the 30s from the floor.

You kidding me? And full-blown, like, we got a glimpse up it the other night in first court against Denver. You know, certainly that the game in Denver, you know, when joking those guys were healthy, you got a glimpse of it then. The crazy thing is you have not seen like, oh, wow, Luca performance yet in a hilarious uniform. And those will come. Those are on the horizon. Yay.

I'm excited. He is, Tim, again, we lied to you, Tim. We kept you longer than we said we would, but that's just how we do it. The book is The Wonder Boy, Luca Donchich in the Curse of Greatness. You can always, of course, follow Tim with his work at E.S. P.N. Thank you so much for the time. It's good to talk to you again. Well, I really appreciate you guys having me, and I think I'll be talking you again soon. You will be talking with me on Lakers' talk. That will be for a show that

will be on, I believe, March 28th, Friday sometime between 6 and 8 p.m. Pacific time. Like Brian said, I appreciate the time, brother. Thank you. I appreciate you guys. Adios megos. And thanks to Tim McMahon. Again, the book is The Wonder Boy, Luca Donchich, and The Curse of greatness. Laker fans should definitely check it out to get better insights into the guy that is hopefully the franchise face for the Lakers for many, many years to come. We will see everybody after Saturday's game in Memphis against the Grizzlies. Until then, see y'all later.