Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Tim MacMahon Interview, Part II: Luka Dončić's Competitive Drive, Conditioning, and the Lakers Trade

Starting point is 00:00:00 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 Dantzich, part two 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, wherever you get your podcast, Monday through Friday, Always free, never behind a paywall. And for the sickos who like to watch, Locked on Lakers is available on YouTube with a community of over 34,000 subscribers, really fun, energetic, smart group. Always leaving comments in the comment section.

Starting point is 00:00:50 We use that a lot to shape questions for the show and talking points. Make sure you are subscribing, whether to the audio, to the video, whatever, so you never miss an episode. and this is part two of a conversation Brian and I, my brother Brian, had with Tim McMahon from ESPN about his new book, Wonder Boy, Luca Donchich, and The Curse of Greatness, which was released Tuesday, March 25th. We covered a lot of ground in this conversation. And in order to fit in the locked-on format, it would have been too long. So we would have had to make a lot of cuts and edits, and we want to do that because there's just a lot of really good stuff in there. So we decided, instead to release it as part of a series of throughout the week.

Starting point is 00:01:37 And today, Wednesday is part two where we cover Luca's competitive wiring and we get into Dallas's very controversial decision to trade into the Lakers. So without further ado, part two of our conversation with Tim McMahon. You mentioned earlier, Tim, like the just the incredible competitiveness with which he plays. and we've certainly seen that, you know, in the NBA and with the Lakers. There's also, though, I think a joy that comes from watching him go. Like when, you know, and he is clearly enjoying himself and brings that to, you know, to the people who are, you know, the crowd and all that.

Starting point is 00:02:19 There's an interesting quote that he, that he has, I forget exactly the year, but Sergio Ewell with Real Madrid is hurt and, you know, Luke has got to step up. bigger role, all these other things. And he talks about the pressure. And he says, you know, it's not pressure, paraphrasing, but it's not pressure because you're doing something that you love to do. Is that still part of, is he, does he still have that? Does that get lost in the NBA business and stuff? So with Luca, the, there's never melancholy. There's, there's not like there's never calm

Starting point is 00:03:00 right there's emotional extremes it's joy it's wrath it's anger it's you know agony I tell you I just I just came from LA I just watch it and obviously the nuggets

Starting point is 00:03:15 you know were a shell themselves but like I've been watching Luke on TV as by the way I would say the Lakers ratings Dallas have skyrocketed this deal and you usually see the joy and like Luca legitimately loves hooping loves competition does he love practice does he love prep rate no but when the scoreboard's on that's in his element and there's never i've never once seen since suspected any stage fright from this kid completely immune to you know to that kind of a

Starting point is 00:03:54 pressure. Doesn't mean he's always going to get it done, but like, dude, this guy, he loves being in those spotlight type of situations. Game seven in Phoenix, you know, on the road against the team's got the best record in the league. Teams have been talking trashed the whole series and, you know, all this kind of stuff. Great. I'm going to go rip the soul out of the city. You know, like that's who he is. And it's funny because there's sometimes there can be joy in his wrath, you know, like it gets back to the ruthlessness. He loves like that scene, Minnesota last year, you know, in the elimination game. He loves, you know, just being able to look around an arena and just know none of you people are having a good time and that's because

Starting point is 00:04:41 I am, you know, that's sort of a thing. But like when when things are going well and basketball's fun, you know, it's like, it's like, you know, like Jimmy Hendricks playing the guitar. He's just in his own, like just a prodigy in his own. And yeah, he loves that stuff. He love and he loves entertaining. Like, it's funny. Luca does not love necessarily the external entertainment aspect of the basketball business. Like, look, he's not a media, darling.

Starting point is 00:05:15 You know, I compared to early in his career, like he treated media like most kids his age, do math homework. He's going to do the bare minimum and he ain't going to enjoy it. He's kind of aged out of that and he's got a little looser with the media, but he doesn't love that. He doesn't necessarily love like the celebrity stuff. It'll be interesting to see how he adapts that in LA with obviously all that stuff around and massive marketing opportunities. But he loves being on the stage. He loves entertaining. He loves putting on a show. He loves, you know, especially making a pass that nobody in the arena saw until the ball was, you know, midway to the target in the air and just knowing that

Starting point is 00:05:58 everybody who's watching that has their job dropping or, you know, the head, you know, hands on their head is like, holy bleep, what did I just see? The guy, it's funny for a for a guy who is not like, you know, some kind of explosive athlete, like, you know, he's not a guy who's going to put together a highlight reel of dunks, but boy, does he put together a highlight reel? And he doesn't have to leave the floor to do it. But even like the shot making, the finishing in the paint. But again, to me, the best highlights from Luca are the passes. He's made some of the most ridiculous passes.

Starting point is 00:06:40 And I'm going to say he's walking in to the Lakers as the second best pass for an NBA history. He's got to put together a run to challenge. is number one. But I'm going to say it's the second best pass from Lakers history. That's pretty impressive. That is certainly going to get the attention of our listeners right now because... Obviously, magic's

Starting point is 00:07:05 number one, but who? No, that's... No. I mean, I'd be LeBron. I think we're probably being that's one. But let's, I want to get into, let's get into the Lakers stuff, because how what you're talking about now translates, not just who is present

Starting point is 00:07:20 with the Lakers, but the future where the Lakers and the Mavericks are making completely opposite bets. The Mavericks decided that the negatives you were talking about, you know, doesn't really love practice, you know, maybe like that enjoys a steak and some wine or a hookah, or whatever it might be, outweigh the positives. But the risk is too much there with the contract they were going to have to sign them to. The Lakers are making the opposite bet.

Starting point is 00:07:48 How does what you were talking about before in terms of the competitiveness, the wrath, the ruthlessness, and then the basketball joy, how does that translate into what you think will happen with Luca in L.A. post-trade? Well, I think the first thing we've got to go with here is Michael Harrison or nobody else in that front office asked me for my advice. My advice would have been, no, you don't trade the five-time first team all-NBA selection who is yet to turn 26 years old. No, you just deal with it for a little bit longer with the guy who averaged 34, 10, and 9 and led you to the finals last year.

Starting point is 00:08:32 Does he have flaws? Yes. Diet, discipline, condition are those concerns? Have they been concerns this whole career? Yes. But my God, the historic production certainly outweighs the flaws. And, you know, Patrick Dumont, the Mavericks governor. I'm not sure he knows a whole lot about basketball.

Starting point is 00:08:55 He did cite Shaquille O'Neal among the legends who were like these, you know, guys who epitomize work ethic. When I think you guys probably following Shaq's career would agree with my contention that Shaq is actually Exhibit A, that some dudes are just so talented that you wish they took the conditioning stuff up. Or at the very least, Shack. Jack is the example of if you want to believe the MAV's side of this, this is the risk they're taking. Like the idea that a guy will rely so much on his extraordinary talent that he'll think he can do the bare minimum for the conditioning.

Starting point is 00:09:40 I'm to be clear, not saying that that is necessarily a risk for Luca. I'm just saying it's a bizarre example of the guys you want Luca to emulate. Maybe one of the only guys who was worse with his conditioning than Luca. Some guys are the single season and still be an all-time great. Luca is on that path. And there have been one or two years he actually came in in pretty good shape. But Lucas is on that path and Shaq did that. Now, the other thing is by trading him.

Starting point is 00:10:10 And look, this is a franchise that prioritized Kissing Luca's ass for six years and then stabbed him in the back. That's the only way to describe the way this went down. They stabbed him in the back and they publicly dumped on him on the way out. They broke his heart and then humiliated him. Okay. This is a slap in his face. He has been insanely disrespected by the Dallas Mavix franchise. If this doesn't get him to say, like, I've talked about that wrath and that ruthless competitiveness.

Starting point is 00:10:45 If this doesn't get him to transfer that competitiveness into the Monday, mundane stuff, the conditioning, you know, the guy's probably always going to have a few beers. I don't know, man. So did Larry Bird, by the way. Another guy, Dumont mentioned. But if this doesn't get him to really kind of lock into the mundane preparation stuff, then nothing ever will. If he does lock into that, I mean, again, stack his numbers up to any 26-year-old. in NBA history. There's only a few who you can put on the same page.

Starting point is 00:11:24 And if the best is yet to come, sheesh. Now, you know, the bet with the Mavericks is that his body's going to break down, you know, we'll see. I can't bet against a generational talent who, and it's not even that you're betting on potential. He's proven. Mm-hmm. It's proven. He's proven that he is one of the, you can't get, you can't make any sort of reasonable argument that he's any worse than the fourth best player in the league. And, you know, you can get as high as two or three very easily. And we're going to take a quick break to let everyone know that Locked-on Lakers is brought to you by game time.

Starting point is 00:12:05 There is nothing like watching basketball live, the energy of the crowd, the sound of the sneakers on the hardwood, maybe even a celebrity side and court side. And if you want to see a game in person, game time makes getting tickets easier and faster than ever. new feature GameTime picks filters out the fluff and shows you only the best deals on great seats so you don't waste any time scrolling through thousands of tickets. And the super deals makes Game Time picks even better because they highlight the best bang for your buck. You also get peace of mind knowing that you're going to have seat views before you buy. There's no surprise fees, the lowest price guarantee. You can book with total confidence. Take the guesswork out of buying tickets with

Starting point is 00:12:46 game time picks. Download the Game Time app. create an account and use the code locked on NBA for $20 off for first purchase. Terms apply again. Create an account. We're doing the code L-O-C-E-D-O-N-N-B-A for 20 bucks off. Download game time today. What time is it game time? Along these lines, too, with Luca and the narrative with his conditioning, which, I mean,

Starting point is 00:13:15 it's been an open secret for years. It's just louder now. And Nico Harrison, Charles Dumont, laying it on pretty thick after the trade, the leak comments that are even rougher. Like, from your understanding, Tim, how directly did the Mavericks actually confront Luca about this or like really actively try to get into change? Like, is this a situation where you think they can honestly say, man, we exhausted all our possibilities and we can look in the mirror and say whether you agree with decision or not, we were left with no choice because we could not get through to him? first of all, you can't say left with no choice. You just can't.

Starting point is 00:13:57 You went to the finals last year. Like, you went to the finals. I mean, I'm not saying it to justify it. It's more the idea of how much did they actually try to change this as opposed to, as you said, kiss his ass the whole time and then staff. Yeah. And there were certainly discussions about it throughout the course of his career. And then, you know, I'm not in those meetings. You know, how direct is the communication?

Starting point is 00:14:20 I don't know. But it was a point in discussion. And the other thing that's like, look, Luca has basically been forced to acknowledge on several occasions throughout the course of his career that it needs to be better. You know, was that due to direct conversation? Was it due to, you know, it becoming a media storyline? Was it due to, you know, Reggie Miller blasted him for an entire T&T broadcast early in the first season of the kid Harrison regime? You know, I mean, but like it's not like it hasn't been something that Luca has acknowledged he can be better.

Starting point is 00:14:57 He should be better. He needs to be better. But again, what you can't say is the Mavericks had no choice because Luca took one team, you know, now we know Brunson absolutely was a bona fide co-star. But Luca Brunson and a bunch of role players went to the conference finals when Luca was. I'm trying to do the math in my head. 22, 23, I think. And then, yeah, a couple years later, it took a completely different cast.

Starting point is 00:15:28 Kyrie's legit ghostrope, but a completely different cast to the finals. So you can't say, well, you just can't win this way. You were, you had. You know, did you win in the finals? Or the championship games, as Dumont called them,

Starting point is 00:15:41 or one of his appearances? No, but you know what? you've been to the finals and certainly I think you had a pretty good shot of getting back there with Luke at some point in the near and longer term future but like was it going to mature was it going to change his ways I don't know and we'll never find out again I think there is I think this increases the chances that he does actually which increases the chances of this thing looking just, I mean, revenge body coming.

Starting point is 00:16:21 Oh, yeah. I hope that's, I mean, that's the hope of Lakers fans, is that, you know, the spite that, you know, he gets into spite shape or, you know, maybe the influence of LeBron helps a little bit, but I think, I think mostly we're counting on spite. Well, my wife asked me right after the trade, she says, is Luke looking at he had a revenge body and say, hold on. What are you trying to tell me if you look good now?

Starting point is 00:16:44 Don't need any revenge. Like, we're good. But, and like, look, is LeBron a potentially phenomenal role model for him? Yeah. But you know what? Luca had the roadmap before. I mean, he came in and Dirk was on his last legs. But trust me, if you want to learn about how to take care of yourself, diet, condition,

Starting point is 00:17:03 discipline, Dirk's a hell of role model. Dirk was an open book and more than happy to help. Not because I say, you've got to do it this, this, and this. But, you know, and continues to be, by the way, as was called. clearly indicated by the fact that Dirk flew commercial to go to L.A. to be there for Luca during his Lakers debut. Kyrie does a phenomenal job taking care of himself and is a maniac about fitness and preparation. So Lucas had the roadmap. I would say the commitment and desire ebden flowed to put it politely. And I feel, you know, I, I, I feel.

Starting point is 00:17:44 I think he has said, actually, that this is motivation. And again, playing his way in the shape, Luca has been pretty damn good so far. So if it's locked in, Luca, you know what? It's funny. I was, I'm outside the arena the other day there. And, you know, obviously, you look around and see all the statues. If I had to put a bet down, there will be a statue of Luca outside that arena. At some point down the road, I mean, I don't think that's a bold statement.

Starting point is 00:18:19 That's the hope. I mean, that's the hope. That's the design. That is absolutely what the Lakers are banking on, I think, with this trade, is that he becomes, you know, there's, LeBron's going to get one and, you know, and Luca follows. And coming up either Thursday or Friday, we're going to have the final installment of our conversation with Tim McMahon. Until then, we will see everybody soon.

Locked On Lakers - Daily Podcast On The Los Angeles Lakers - Tim MacMahon Interview, Part II: Luka Dončić's Competitive Drive, Conditioning, and the Lakers Trade

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.