Luka Doncic made his much-anticipated Lakers debut on Monday against the Utah Jazz at the Crypto.com arena. The Slovenian guard returned after an injury hiatus and featured for 24 minutes in the game, scoring 14 points, 5 rebounds and 4 assists. As all the players chipped in along with Doncic, the Lakers registered a commanding win of 132-113 over the Jazz.
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LeBron James' Motivating Message to Luka Doncic
Since Luka Doncic's return was anticipated on many levels, one of the moments that fans were patiently waiting to witness emanated on Monday. Doncic's trade to the Lakers got the fans hyped up for his pairing with none other than the NBA legend LeBron James. On Monday the two superstars shared the court for 19 minutes and every second of the phase stood out as something special. The supreme game IQ that both players possess was evident on the floor and Jazz's defense was unfortunately at the receiving end of the two maestros.
Many knowers of the game feared how LeBron and Luka would co-exist in the same team and combine for the betterment of the team, all the worries were placated during the pregame huddle where Lakers' talisman LeBron James bolstered the confidence of his new co-star.
Here's what King James directed Luka to do ahead of his premiere appearance in the golden and purple jersey.
"Luka, be your f---ing self. Don't fit in, fit the f--- out." LeBron to Luka in the pregame huddle.
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Luka Doncic On LeBron James' Inspirational Words During the Pre-game Huddle
Luka spoke after the game about that moment in the pre-game huddle and what it meant for him to see LeBron say that to him.
“I mean, it’s like I said before. It’s special,” Doncic said. “You know, for him to say something like that feels amazing. Give him confidence. After that speech, it was chills. So, I was just happy to be part.”
And the new Lakers star — like everyone else — noticed immediately how well the two might fit next to one another.
“He’s special,” Doncic said of James. “He sees the game in a different way than a lot of people. His IQ is insane. Having two guys like that on the court, I think is going to help the whole team out.”