The Los Angeles Lakers are hoping to re-enter the title dialogue in 2025-26 with a motivated Luka Doncic, who not too long ago signed an extension with the franchise. Doncic unveiled his weight reduction in photographs revealed by Males’s Well being Journal earlier this summer season, which might be an enormous improvement for a Los Angeles group that hasn’t gained a sport previous the second spherical since their 2020 championship.
For all of his otherworldly abilities, Doncic’s most spectacular talent is taken into account by most to be his passing, which has drawn him comparisons to Lakers legend Magic Johnson through the years.
Not too long ago, Dallas Mavericks 2011 NBA champion and coach Tyson Chandler doubled down on these similarities.
“I might at all times name him Luka Magic as a result of he jogged my memory of a European model of Magic Johnson,” stated Chandler, per Nikola Miloradovic of Eurohoops.web. “This new age, Luka is his personal participant, however Magic was the older era of someone with a smile that was the killer. They’d come on the market and destroy you, win video games, however with a giant smile. He’s simply such a pleasure to look at, and I like watching him. Nothing however nice issues to say about Luka.”
Chandler additionally spoke on his response when he heard the information that Doncic was shockingly being traded from the Mavericks to the Lakers.
“I used to be simply as stunned as the remainder of the world with the commerce. I feel it can find yourself figuring out for either side, you understand, in the long term. However I used to be simply stunned, clearly,” he stated.
A giant 12 months for the Lakers
Many skeptics nonetheless do not suppose that the Los Angeles Lakers have sufficient depth, notably of their frontcourt, to actually compete with groups just like the Oklahoma Metropolis Thunder within the Western Convention.
Nonetheless, a well-conditioned Luka Doncic may change that, as his behavior of working out of fuel down the stretch of shut playoff video games would now not be an element for Los Angeles.
In any case, the Lakers are set to kick off their 2025-26 season at house in opposition to the Golden State Warriors on October 21.