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[Los Angeles Lakers]

Luka Doncic Loved First Season In With Lakers But Hasn’t Thought About Extension

The Los Angeles Lakers’ first season with Luka Doncic at the helm came to an unceremonious end on Wednesday night, losing in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves to get eliminated in the first round for the second consecutive season. As a whole, the Lakers are now 2-12 in their last 14 playoff games.

But unlike previous exits, the future feels significantly brighter because of Doncic. After the trade deadline, the Lakers were not supposed to be a championship contending team. They built their roster on the fly after making the blockbuster trade and did not have any quality centers or significant depth. This offseason will be pivotal, as next year was commonly seen as the first real contention year for Luka in L.A.

And one of the biggest questions of the offseason is whether or not Doncic will sign a four-year max extension with the Lakers when he becomes eligible in August. At his exit interview, Luka was asked about the extension and if he’s given any thought to signing it.

“I didn’t think about it yet. I’ve been focused on basketball, so obviously this is the time to think about everything,” Doncic said.

This makes sense, as there’s no real need for Luka to have thought about the extension so long before being eligible while being focused on winning games with a brand new team. But he ensured everyone that he’s had a remarkable time as a member of the Lakers thus far.

“It’s been great, honestly. The way the fans accepted me has been amazing,” Doncic said. “I’m glad I’m here, I had a great couple of months … trying to learn about the city, about the team, just trying to process everything.”

It feels more likely than not that Doncic signs his four-year extension this offseason, if only because he has already lost out on his supermax contract after being traded, and there isn’t significant financial incentive to wait until the summer of 2026 when he can become an unrestricted free agent.

The beginning of the Doncic era in Los Angeles obviously did not have the best ending. But the best times with Luka at the helm very clearly appear to be ahead.

Lakers’ LeBron James noncommittal about future​

The other Lakers superstar, LeBron James, naturally faced questions about potential retirement after concluding his 22nd NBA season.

Following elimination, James remained noncommittal about playing next season and said he would take time to discuss his future with his inner circle.

“I don’t know. I don’t have the answer to that,” he said when asked about his future. “I’ll sit down with my family, my wife and my support group, and kind of just talk through it, and see what happens. Have conversations with myself on how long I want to continue to play. I don’t know the answer to that right now to be honest. We’ll see.”

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/luka-donci...ith-lakers-but-hasnt-thought-about-extension/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Lakers News: Rob Pelinka Emphasizes Need To Add More Size At Center Position

The Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the 2025 NBA Playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves in just five games, ending what looked like a promising season.

The Lakers entered the series as favorites, but it was clear after Game 1 that the Timberwolves’ collective size and physicality would be too much to overcome.

Los Angeles was forced to play small-ball almost exclusively, and head coach JJ Redick later spoke about the difficulties of playing without a true center on the floor.

Following the team’s elimination, president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka emphasized he and the front office are focused on adding more size to the roster this offseason.

“I think it’s important to recognize this team was able to finish third in an incredibly tough Western Conference and you make a seismic trade at the deadline your roster and the building around it, it’s kind if like trying to build an airplane in the sky,” Pelinka said at his annual end-of-season press conference. “And now we get a chance to sort of land that plane, put it in the hangar and really figure out the parts of it that we need to retrofit and change and that’s what we’ll do. Lots of things to learn.

“I think when you make huge trade at the deadline where you trade your starting center for a point guard, of course that’s gonna create significant issues with the roster and we saw some of those play out. We know this offseason, one of our primary goals is going to be add size in our frontcourt at the center position and that’s gonna just be part of the equation. We have multiple free agents, too, obviously those questions will get answered in July and August. But we know we have a lot of work to do on the roster and it’ll look different next year, for sure.”

Pelinka added that the team was aware of the need at the trade deadline and will have more time to assess options later this offseason.

“There’s NBA rules that prohibit us from speaking to a particular transaction, but I’ll say in general it’s very clear and it was clear then when we spoke to it that this team and this roster needs more size and needs a center position,” he added. “That’s a very clear and obvious by-product of trading potentially the best big in the league to Dallas to get a point guard. Of course that’s going to open up a huge hole and I’ve said before the trade deadline and the moments up to it don’t allow you the requisite time to explore every single unturned stone to add a big to our roster. We just didn’t have the time after the Luka trade, but now we do.

“That’s the good news and clearly we’ll be very diligent, we’ll be very detailed, we’ll work hard. You got the NBA Combine coming up here in a couple weeks in Chicago that’s when a lot of the executives get together and start talks about offseason planning and roster construction. The one thing we know about the NBA is there’s always new and unexpected opportunities around the corner. That’s just the nature of this business and my focus is going to be on that and making sure that next year we have the requisite size to compete for a championship.”

It was blatantly obvious Los Angeles would struggle being so undersized against a team like Minnesota, so it’ll be interesting to see how Pelinka adds to the roster this summer.

Rob Pelinka describes center traits Lakers will target​

Rob Pelinka also explained what kind of center the Lakers will prioritize adding in the offseason.

“I think in terms of center traits, it would be great to have a center that was a vertical threat, lob threat and someone that could protect the interior defensively. I think those would be keys,” Pelinka said. “But there’s multiple different types of centers that could be very effective in the league. There’s also spread centers that can protect the rim, we’ll look at those as well. I wouldn’t want to limit the archetype, but we know we need a big man.”

A rim protector to ease the burden on defense would be ideal, but a lob threat would provide Luka Doncic his preferred big man target in pick-and-roll situations.

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/lakers-new...zes-need-to-add-more-size-at-center-position/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Lakers Rumors: LeBron James Suffered Grade 2 MCL Sprain In Game 5 Loss

The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves in five games in the first round, which means LeBron James’ 22nd NBA season has come to an end.

Despite the disappointing finish, it was still an exceptional season for James as he continues to play at an All-NBA level at the age of 40.

There’s no denying he is in the back half of his career though, which can lead to more injuries. It appears that was the case in the Lakers’ Game 5 loss to the Timberwolves as at one point James appears to hurt his knee after a collision with Donte DiVincenzo.

James was able to finish the game, but according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN, he actually suffered a significant injury and would have missed Game 6 had the Lakers won and extended their season:

Story filed to https://t.co/oAsD1rYqjW: LeBron James suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in his left knee from his collision with Donte DiVincenzo in Wednesday’s Game 5, a league source told ESPN. The injury entails a 3-5 week recovery timeline.

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 2, 2025

Had the Lakers extended their series with the Wolves for Game 6 tonight in Minnesota, they would be without James and James’ record streak of 292 straight playoff games without sitting out would have been snapped https://t.co/FvVOF2xgfi

— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) May 2, 2025

James has never missed a playoff game in his career, which is an incredible streak that would have come to an end if the Lakers won Game 5.

With the season now over though, James will have plenty of time to rehab and be ready for the start of next season. He was noncommittal about his future after the Lakers were eliminated from the postseason, but early indications are he will return to the team for his 23rd NBA season this fall.

Considering LeBron isn’t getting any younger, it will be up to Rob Pelinka and the front office to put a roster around him that will ease James’ workload in 2025-26. They have failed to do that in recent years but now with Luka Doncic on the team, the Lakers should be able to make life easier on LeBron.

LeBron James not willing to take pay cut for Lakers?​

Upgrading the roster will be a challenge for the Lakers this summer given their lack of resources. And according to reports, LeBron James will not be willing to take a pay cut to help them as he was did last offseason.

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/lakers-rumors-lebron-james-suffered-grade-2-mcl-sprain-in-game-5-loss/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Lakers Rumors: LeBron James Not Expected To Consider Major Pay Cut

The Los Angeles Lakers face a longer than expected offseason after losing in the first round in five games to the Minnesota Timberwolves. L.A. now has major decisions to make, as the pressure is on to improve their team and build a contender around Luka Doncic. One of the biggest dominos involves the contract of LeBron James.

The 40-year-old superstar has a player option for the 2025-26 season worth around $52 million. However, given that he took a pay cut last season to help the Lakers avoid the second apron hard cap, he is not likely to pick that player option up and instead negotiate a new deal.

The discussion of another pay cut had been in play, same as last year, as a means to help the Lakers improve their roster by opening up the full mid-level exception (worth around $14 million) instead of just a taxpayer MLE (worth under $6 million). But reports indicate that LeBron is not likely to do that, according to Jovan Buha and Sam Amick of The Athletic:

If James returns to the Lakers, though, league sources say he’s not expected to consider the kind of pay cut that was in play around this time a year ago. Last summer, James took a discount of approximately $2.7 million to help the Lakers stay under the second apron and maintain roster flexibility.

James considered taking an even steeper pay cut to help the Lakers land an impact player in free agency, with James Harden, DeMar DeRozan, Klay Thompson and Jonas Valančiūnas on his list, league sources confirmed. The Lakers didn’t land any of them, and James instead signed for closer to his max.

The free agent class in 2025 is nowhere near as strong as the class from last season. So it stands to reason that LeBron wouldn’t consider the same type of pay cut. With James at around $52.6 million and Dorian Finney-Smith at around $15.4 million — the amount of his player option — the Lakers have about $16 million of room below the second apron with 12 players on the roster. That is plenty of space to make trades and use the TMLE without LeBron taking a pay cut.

At the end of the day, James is still a max player. He proved it by being the team’s best defensive player down the stretch and in the postseason. So him taking max money is in no way selfish, just getting what he’s earned without hamstringing his team beyond what they already are.

LeBron James praises JJ Redick​

JJ Redick was seen as a risky hire when the Lakers first decided to name him head coach of the franchise. He had zero prior coaching experience, and many were worried about his ability to lead a team with LeBron James — both a friend and someone his exact age — without losing the locker room like previous coaches had.

But it became clear very quickly that Redick knew what he was doing. During bad stretches at the beginning of the season, James and other players were frequently saying that Redick had them prepared and that they simply weren’t executing, a high show of respect for their coach.

Redick also had to redefine the overall identity of the team three different times during the year as the Lakers made major trades. And while the end result was a first round loss to the Timberwolves in five games, and Redick was far from perfect in the playoffs, it’s clear the Lakers’ roster — not coaching — is what needs a touch-up.

LeBron gave his thoughts on Redick’s rookie campaign as the head coach of the Lakers and why he applauds him for what he did throughout the year.

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/lakers-rumors-lebron-james-not-expected-to-consider-major-pay-cut/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Magic Johnson Congratulates Timberwolves For Beating Lakers In 2025 NBA Playoffs

The Los Angeles Lakers were riding high entering the 2025 NBA Playoffs, securing the third seed in a loaded Western Conference after acquiring Luka Doncic at the trade deadline.

However, the Lakers drew the Minnesota Timberwolves who ended the 2024-25 season as arguably the hottest team in the league. While Los Angeles was favored in the series, Minnesota wound up proving to be a terrible matchup for them as they stifled their offense and wore down their defense with their size and physicality.

The Lakers were eliminated in five games, a disappointing result for a team that felt like it had a real chance to compete for a title. Now, Minnesota will advance to the next round while the purple and gold will get a head start on preparing for the draft and free agency.

Lakers legend Magic Johnson was disappointed to see his former team lose in the playoffs, but still congratulated the Timberwolves organization for advancing in the postseason, via his personal X account:

Congratulations to my good friend Minnesota Timberwolves owner Alex Rodriguez, superstar Anthony Edwards and the entire Minnesota Timberwolves team for beating my Lakers and advancing to the next round. The reason the Lakers lost was because they played awful on defense, they…

— Earvin Magic Johnson (@MagicJohnson) May 1, 2025

Johnson’s reaction echoes the sentiments from the Lakers’ fanbase as it was clear throughout the series that they didn’t have the personnel to hang with the Timberwolves. Minnesota’s collective size across every position presented problems for Los Angeles and the latter had no answers given the roster construction.

The Lakers had to figure things out on the fly following the Doncic trade, but president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka has already said the team will look to add more size at the center position this offseason. He also said the team would be aggressive trying to add to their defensive core of wings, encouraging statements and appropriate responses to their playoff exit.

It’ll be difficult to find players who address all the needs on the roster, but Los Angeles needs to turn over every stone as their window to compete for a title with LeBron James is quickly closing. The Lakers are heading toward another eventful summer and it’ll be interesting to see what happens.

JJ Redick says Lakers need to get in championship shape​

Head coach JJ Redick didn’t take any moral victories after his first year on the sidelines. Instead, Redick immediately emphasized the Lakers need to get in championship shape this summer to get to where they want to go.

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/magic-john...lves-for-beating-lakers-in-2025-nba-playoffs/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

LeBron James Won’t Sway Luka Doncic’s Extension Decision With Lakers

Luka Doncic’s 2024-25 season was a rollercoaster to say the least as he was dealt to the Los Angeles Lakers at the trade deadline, a move that no one on the outside knew about.

The Dallas Mavericks trading Doncic, a superstar about to hit his prime, was unprecedented but gave the Lakers a lifeline to their next era following the current one led by LeBron James. James has been open about his mortality as an NBA player, admitting that he doesn’t have much time left.

However, with Doncic in tow he’s got the perfect successor to mentor and hopefully groom into the next star who leads Los Angeles to a championship. This summer, the Lakers will be able to offer Doncic a contract extension though the smarter financial move would be to wait and opt out the following the season in order to earn more on his next deal.

James has the power to influence player decisions, but said he would allow Doncic to come to his own regarding his future in L.A., via Dave McMenamin of ESPN:

James made a concerted effort to empower Doncic since he arrived in L.A., sources said, and will not try to sway his teammate’s decision.

“No, that ain’t my job,” James told ESPN. “I think … I don’t think, I know, Luka knows how I feel about him. And ultimately, that trade happened for the future. That’s not for me. Luka has to decide what he has to do with his future. He’s [26] years old, I’m 40, so he can’t be basing his career off me. That’s just real.

“But I hope, obviously, [he stays long term]. Laker fans f—ing love him here. L.A. has accepted him. We love him as a teammate, as a brother. But ultimately, he’s got to make a decision for him. S—, I ain’t going to be around much longer.”

James is right to let Doncic think about such an important career decision, especially after how emotional and tumultuous this past one was. While Doncic previously expressed a desire to stay with Los Angeles nothing will be official until he puts pen to paper.

Luka Doncic loved first season with the Lakers, hasn’t thought about extension​

Luka Doncic was understandably in a daze when he first arrived in Los Angeles to play for his new team, but he looked more and more comfortable as time went out. While Doncic said he loved his first season with the Lakers, he has yet to think about a possible contract extension.

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/lebron-james-wont-sway-luka-doncic-extension-decision-with-lakers/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Rob Pelinka: Lakers Will Do Everything To Meet LeBron James’ Expectations For Roster

LeBron James put up a valiant effort in the series against the Minnesota Timberwolves, but unfortunately it wasn’t enough as he and the Los Angeles Lakers were vanquished in five games.

James turned back the clock and played as inspired basketball as he has all season on both ends of the floor, but the Timberwolves flat out outplayed the Lakers in every facet of the game. Now, James heads into an uncertain offseason as he remains noncommittal about his playing career, though the early expectation is he’ll return for the 2025-26 season.

While James hasn’t officially confirmed he’ll be back for next season, president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka sounded like he and the front office are operating under the assumption that he’ll return. Pelinka made it obvious at the Lakers’ recent press conference when he said he and the Lakers would do everything they can to retool the roster to meet James’ lofty expectations.

“LeBron is a GOAT, one of the GOATS of the game. He’s a completely selfless leader and I think we saw that in this playoff series, moving to playing more off the ball and committing to the defensive end,” Pelinka said. “I think it’s just a testament to his championship DNA and character. I think LeBron is gonna have high expectations for the roster and we’re gonna do everything we can to meet those. But I also know that whatever it is, he’s gonna still give his 100% every night, whether that’s scoring, assisting, defending, rebounding, leading. We know that’s gonna always be 100% and never waver.”

James has not been shy about his desire to add more talent to the team and the clock is ticking on Pelinka and company as it feels like his career is quickly winding down. The 2025-26 season could be James’ final year in the league and that puts a lot of pressure on the organization to be aggressive in free agency and the trade market.

LeBron’s current contract situation makes it hard for the Lakers to sign anyone outright in free agency, so trades will be the most likely route to improve the team. With multiple expiring contracts and limited draft capital, Pelinka should have the ammunition necessary to pull off at least one impact deal.

LeBron James not expected to consider taking a major pay cut​

Last offseason, LeBron James was reportedly willing to take less money on his deal to help the Lakers sign players in free agency. This summer, though, James isn’t expected to extend the same courtesy.

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/rob-pelink...to-meet-lebron-james-expectations-for-roster/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Lakers News: LeBron James Won’t Attend Met Gala Due To Knee Injury

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers saw their season come to a disappointing end with a first-round playoff loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves.

The Lakers had championship aspirations after winning 50 games and clinching the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference, but now they will have plenty of time to think about what went wrong after going out in five games in the first round.

At the age of 40, a long offseason will certainly be beneficial for James, especially considering he spent last summer playing for Team USA in the Paris Olympics. Additionally, it was recently revealed that LeBron suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain in the Lakers’ Game 5 loss to the Timberwolves and would not have been able to keep playing had the Lakers extended their season.

Because of that injury, which typically requires at least a month of recovery time, James announced that he will not be attending the 2025 Met Gala on Monday night:

Unfortunately because of my knee injury I sustained at the end of the season I won’t be able to attend the Met Gala in NY tonight as so many people have been asking and congratulating me on! Hate to miss an historical event! My beautiful powerful Queen will be there holding the…

— LeBron James (@KingJames) May 5, 2025

James was previously named a co-chair for the 2025 Met Gala, so he has to be disappointed to not be able to attend the event even if it is for good reason. Of course, LeBron would prefer the Lakers’ season to still be going, but that is not the case.

LeBron has a lot of decisions to make this summer about his future with the Lakers and NBA, but it seems his first order of business is getting his knee back to 100% healthy so he can begin preparing for his 23rd season.

LeBron James praises JJ Redick for first season with Lakers​

This was a whirlwind of a year for the Lakers and LeBron James gave praise to JJ Redick for how he handled everything in his first season as a head coach.

“I think JJ is going to continue to grow,” James said. “I thought he had a hell of a rookie campaign for a rookie coach. It’s a lot different being a rookie coach. It’s already hard being a rookie coach in the NBA. And it’s a hell of a lot harder being a rookie head coach coaching the Lakers. It’s a whole other ballgame. And I thought he handled it extremely well.

“I thought he just learned every single day. He held us accountable. He pushed us. I thought JJ and his coaching staff were great throughout the whole season. That was pretty cool. So that’s one thing for sure that you guys know for sure and that’s he is a great coach, an up-and-coming coach that will be great for many, many years.”

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-wont-attend-met-gala-due-to-knee-injury/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Lakers Rumors: ‘Rumblings’ Giannis Antetokounmpo Could Be Interested In Trade To L.A.

The Los Angeles Lakers are going to need to make moves this offseason in order to build a contender around Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves. The 2025 NBA Playoffs showed just how far away they are from that, as they lost in five games in the first round. In the other conference, Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks were sent home in five games by the Indiana Pacers in the first round as well.

This is the third consecutive year that Antetokounmpo’s Bucks were eliminated in the first round, but the first where Giannis played the entire series healthy. He was dominant as well, averaging 33.0 points, 15.4 rebounds and 6.6 assists per game during the series. But it wasn’t enough, as the Bucks simply don’t have a good enough roster to compete at a high level.

Each year the Bucks have lost early, rumors have grown louder and louder about Giannis’ future in Milwaukee. And this offseason seems to be the first time where a trade request is legitimately on the table. If it is, the Lakers could reportedly be on his list of preferred teams, according to Howard Beck via the Zach Lowe Show:

“Does Giannis ask out? If he does, does he have a list? I poked around a little bit a few days ago and the initial thing I got from one person was just like some rumblings that it’s already just the big cities: One of the L.A. teams or one of the New York teams or maybe Miami, not a big market, but a glamour market, mid-size market. I think they threw Chicago in there. I can’t remember if Houston came up, it should. So first is like where does Giannis want to go and do they honor that? Because again, back to Damian Lillard, you’re not obligated to honor it. The second piece is then what does the bidding war look like?”

It’s not too shocking that Antetokounmpo seems to be in on the big market teams should he ask for a trade. He was on record saying he loved Doncic’s move to Los Angeles and that he wanted all the international stars to play in the biggest markets.

However, the Lakers trading for Giannis is extremely unlikely. Just to get to the money required to make a legal trade, it would cost the Lakers nearly their entire core roster. And even then, with every available draft pick, other teams can still easily outbid L.A.

Of course, after Doncic, nothing feels impossible. But Antetokounmpo would likely need to force his way to the Lakers specifically in order to make that happen. Or the Bucks would need to really love the pieces L.A. can send back.

Lakers’ Rob Pelinka finishes sixth in Executive of the Year voting​

Lakers President of Basketball Operations and General Manager Rob Pelinka has come under a lot of scrutiny over the years for some of the moves he’s made. This season, however, there is little debate that he pulled off multiple deals that greatly improved the Lakers overall.

For his efforts, Pelinka did get some recognition in NBA Executive of the Year voting. The league announced that Sam Presti of the Oklahoma City Thunder was the winner, but Pelinka received five votes total, one of which was a first-place vote, and finished sixth overall.

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/lakers-rum...tokounmpo-could-be-interested-in-trade-to-la/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Lakers Rumors: Luka Doncic To Face Off Against Mavericks In Las Vegas Preseason Game

Luka Doncic’s first season with the Los Angeles Lakers was a rollercoaster, to say the least. The Dallas Mavericks inexplicably shipped out Doncic for a trade package built around Anthony Davis, but the Lakers wound up being the clear winners of the deal as they finished with the third seed while the Mavericks missed the playoffs.

While Los Angeles lost in the first round to the Minnesota Timberwolves, their future is bright with Doncic now on the roster.

Doncic has already expressed an interest in staying with the Lakers long-term and the early expectation is he’ll sign an extension this summer as he’s fully committed to the team. This is great news for the purple and gold who have proudly touted Doncic as the face of the franchise and their building block moving forward.

Doncic’s exit from the Mavericks was an emotional one and he’ll see his former team soon as the Lakers are set to play a preseason game against them in Las Vegas, via NBA Insider Marc Stein:

Expect an early season matchup between the Mavericks and Luka Dončić in 2025-26:

I'm told that the Lakers and Mavericks are lining up to play a preseason game in Las Vegas in October.

More NBA from me: https://t.co/IIIlAloJCf

And noon CT today on @DLLS_Sports pic.twitter.com/7tUrxDr9DA

— Marc Stein (@TheSteinLine) May 7, 2025

It makes sense that Los Angeles and Dallas would be squaring up in preseason as this gives the NBA a great way to generate excitement for the 2025-26 season. Because it’s preseason, Doncic and the rest of the regulars likely won’t play a full allotment of minutes but seeing him go up against Dallas should still be a treat.

Doncic has been professional about the situation publicly, but there could still be some negative feelings he’s harboring toward the Mavericks franchise and particularly general manager Nico Harrison and governor Patrick Dumont. Harrison and Dumont dragged Doncic for his conditioning and perceived lack of commitment to defense, so he’ll have plenty of motivation every time he plays against them.

Luka Doncic says everyone on Lakers needs to get better this summer​

Considering they lost in the first round of the playoffs, Luka Doncic knows he and the other Lakers players need to improve their games this offseason.

“There’s obviously a lot of different things we can do, I can do,” he said. “Obviously everybody has got to get better. We’re gonna have a long summer and should focus on how we can improve as a team, as individuals.”

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/lakers-rum...gainst-mavericks-in-las-vegas-preseason-game/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

Lakers News: LeBron James Gives Update On Severity Of Knee Injury

In the immediate aftermath of the Los Angeles Lakers’ loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the NBA Playoffs, it was announced that LeBron James had suffered a Grade 2 MCL sprain after a collision with Donte DiVincenzo.

LeBron hadn’t spoken about the severity of the injury since the Lakers season ended, but in the latest episode of the “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash, he revealed that it was a pain he had never experienced before and made it clear that he would not have been able to continue playing if the series had continued:

“In my 22-year career, this is my first knee injury. I’ve had the regular tendinitis and patella and all that stuff, but this is the first time I’ve ever had like a sustained knee injury where it’s like OK, you gotta get off your feet. You gotta kind be shelled for a minute. I knew as soon as the impact happened with me and DiVincenzo, I felt it right away. My knee locked up and that’s when I kind of stayed on the ground for quite a minute to see if the knee would kind of release a little bit. But I knew right then and there it was a pain that I hadn’t felt before. And I think obviously when I was running back to close out and he collided into me, my knee bent inward and that’s the NCL injury that I had. Four to six weeks [is what] the docs told me. I have four to six weeks now, that’s the benefit of not going on in the postseason. Obviously I wish I was still going, but unfortunately even if we had won Game 5 at home, I would’ve probably missed (Games) 6 and 7 and even further. I have some time though. I have some time to get it right and get back to full strength as far as my knee goes. It definitely was a pain that… that next morning after, I told the docs, I was like listen, it’s sore right now yes. And this is Wednesday night after the game and I said if I wake up Thursday morning and it didn’t feel any better then let’s get an MRI on Friday morning. Well when I woke up Thursday morning and tried to get out of bed, I was like holy shit. And I called the doc right away and said I can’t wait until Friday, I need to go today… That was pretty much (it for my season) unfortunately.”

For the majority of his career, James has been a beacon of health. Even at this late stage of his career, he has played in at least 70 games in each of the last two seasons, but obviously this injury was different and he knew it immediately.

With the offseason now here, he has plenty of time to get fully healthy and, assuming he will return for his eighth season with the Lakers, will be ready to go once next season begins.

LeBron James calls playing with Bronny James on the Lakers top accomplishment of his career​

Throughout his career, there is basically nothing that LeBron James hasn’t accomplished. But this season was different as he was able to share the court with his son Bronny James as a member of the Lakers and the superstar made it clear that was the top accomplishment of his entire basketball career.

“No. 1. For sure. That’s easy. It’s not even close,” James said. “To be able to play the game that I love and to be able to be along my son this whole year has been one of the most gratifying, satisfying journeys I’ve ever been on, just to see his growth from the moment he was drafted when we were all in New York at the draft party to seeing him in summer league, struggle early on in summer league and pick it up towards the end.

“To get on the floor with him in preseason for the first time, I believe it was in Palm Springs, I believe. To getting on the court versus this Minnesota team, game one. And just to see what he was able to do every single day by just channeling his mind and his work, just putting in the work and just seeing how much he grew from, like I said, the moment from when he was drafted to doing what he was doing in the G, getting opportunities with us.”

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/lakers-news-lebron-james-gives-update-on-severity-of-knee-injury/

 

[Los Angeles Lakers]

LeBron James Describes Emotions After Lakers’ Series Loss To Timberwolves

LeBron James has made it clear that at this stage of his career he is only playing to compete for championships, but unfortunately, the Los Angeles Lakers fell well short of that as the Minnesota Timberwolves defeated them in five games in the first round.

After a rough series like that, it’s natural for someone like James to feel all sorts of emotions and he described them in the latest episode of his “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash:

“Like you just said, you unravel all of those emotions. And I’ve unraveled all of them in the sense of give me space, going back analytically seeing what I could’ve done better, what we could’ve done better, thinking about the individual matchups, thinking about their team versus our team, thing we could’ve done better. It all has entered my mind since Wednesday night when it was over with. I’ve had a few days, each day has been something different. Obviously I’ve come to grips with it now being quite a few days after the fact and watching a lot of the other series’ now and how they unfold. But you said it, I’ve had all those emotions to the point where it’s like shit, we ended the season well but like you said, when it comes to the postseason, it doesn’t determine how well of a regular season you had, it’s the matchups and we ran into a damn good matchup. A team that’s been battle-tested and a team that’s hungry, a team that has a lot of youth but also experience at the same time and a team that’s trying to take the next step. They were a worthy opponent, that’s for sure.”

LeBron and the Lakers certainly had their chances as Games 3, 4 and 5 were all close contests in the fourth quarter that L.A. just couldn’t close out.

While James has been noncommittal about his future with the Lakers and in the NBA, he clearly still has that passion and drive to be great. The early expectation is that he will return to the Lakers for the 2025-26 season, and if that’s the case then he and the rest of the team should use this first round loss as fuel to avoid it happening again a year from now.

Rob Pelinka knows LeBron James will have high expectations for Lakers’ roster​

If the Lakers are gonna get back into championship contention then they must improve the roster this offseason, and Rob Pelinka knows LeBron James will have high expectations.

“I think LeBron is gonna have high expectations for the roster and we’re gonna do everything we can to meet those,” Pelinka said. “But I also know that whatever it is, he’s gonna still give his 100% every night, whether that’s scoring, assisting, defending, rebounding, leading. We know that’s gonna always be 100% and never waver.”

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Source: https://lakersnation.com/lebron-james-describes-emotions-after-lakers-series-loss-to-timberwolves/