The Los Angeles Lakers got some great news for the franchise when Luka Doncic decided to sign a three-year extension with the franchise. It appeared things were headed in this direction, but the team can breathe a sigh of relief knowing that he’s tied to them for at least another three seasons.
Notably, nearly half of the Lakers’ roster showed up to Doncic’s press conference announcing the new contract, including offseason signings Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton. One person who was not there was star forward LeBron James.
James doesn’t always show up to things like this, especially in the offseason, but this seems to be another way he’s distancing himself from the franchise. He also hasn’t reached out to any of the new additions.
James and Doncic are fans of each other, but the former was busy doing other things. James posted on his Instagram that he was working on his golf game.
The press conference was on short notice, so it’s likely that only players who were in the area were able to attend. By the looks of James’ videos, it doesn’t appear he’s near Los Angeles, so he may have simply not had the time to attend.
Lakers Want James to Finish Career in LA
James has done a lot to try and distance himself from the Lakers this offseason. He did opt into his contract, but then had his agent put out a statement suggesting that he could want a trade.
Considering his age and contract, there wasn’t much interest around the NBA. James is set to be a Laker this season, and while a trade is still possible, general manager and president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka wants him to finish his career in Los Angeles.
“In terms of LeBron’s career, I think the number one thing we have to do there is respect he and his family’s decision in terms of how long he’s going to play. I think that’s first and foremost,” Pelinka said at the press conference. “And we want to respect his ability to come up with his timetable on that.”
Doncic Wants to Compete for Championship
The Lakers looked like championship contenders before the playoffs last season, but clearly were missing some pieces. Doncic is hoping that will change this season.
“I think we have a great team, we have what we need to compete for the championship,” Doncic said. “I’ll try to win every game no matter what and we got some new great guys on the team so you know we’re going to go for it.”
Doncic has turned some heads this offseason with his new commitment to getting in shape. He explained why he wanted to do that.
“We’ll just say, you know, it was like a fresh start for me. Obviously, I was on my way (to) doing it,” Doncic said of getting in better shape. “But it was just kind of a fresh start. I had a little more time to get my mind off basketball, just doing other things. So I would just say, like a fresh start for me.”
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