Jeanie Buss talked about the unusual situation when Luka Doncic was traded from Dallas to LA – it was like nothing she had ever seen before.
The LAL CEO and minority owner recently opened up about how different the experience of joining the Lakers was for Luka compared to other NBA players.
“In my experience, welcoming a player to a Laker team, I often hear, ‘This is my dream,'” Jeanie told Pretty Tough. “I always wanted to be a Laker, to play in the same place where Magic played, with Kobe and Shaq and Kareem. But Luka was not like that.”
“He was still, I saw, trying to figure out – why is this happening? As soon as the trade happened, we had a private jet to bring him to LA to put him in the organization,” he added. “And you could see that he left his heart in Dallas. It would take him a while to process.
“It’s like if your boyfriend breaks up with you, it’s okay to go out and get a new dress and try to make him regret ever doing that.”
Buss is right in his assessment. You only have to look when Luke had his comeback game in Dallas and he was very emotional to watch his tribute video. The city and the Mavs meant a lot to him.
Of course since then, Luke has become an LA icon.
A few months after settling in, following the most shocking trade in recent NBA history, Doncic admitted he loved Los Angeles and playing for the purple and gold.
“This is the first city I play in that has a beach,” said Doncic last June. “I really like the beach, so that was nice.
“I love it [being in Los Angeles]. I really like it.”
Doncic has begun to recognize the celebrities who appear at Lakers games and enjoys putting on a show for world famous people.
“Every game has famous people who watch our games and sit on the court,” said Doncic. “That’s amazing to see.”
Unfortunately for Lakers fans, Luke’s time on the court this season may be over, after suffering a hamstring injury late in the regular season – it appeared he would miss the entire postseason.
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