It’s unclear if the Lakers will extend formal roles to the trusted members of Doncic’s circle.
Josh Wilson | Feb 4, 2025
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- Los Angeles Lakers
In the wake of the stunning trade that rocked the NBA sending Luka Doncic to the Los Angeles Lakers, reports came out about the Dallas Mavericks' supposed displeasure with the star player that motivated the trade. Among reports of the team being frustrated with his eating habits and in-game outbursts at officials, the team reportedly took steps to signal to Doncic how badly they wanted him to comply.
One such step included firing members of the organization that Doncic was close with.
"They get rid of everybody I like," Doncic told an ESPN source for their long expose on the deal.
Well, one step the Lakers could take to win early favor with its new star is looking at offering those individuals roles with Doncic's new team, or at least opening up the environment for Doncic to continue working with them in an unofficial capacity.
Brad Townsend reported the, "first person," he saw in the parking lot before Doncic's press conference was Anze Macek, "whom Luka Doncic hired last season as his personal strength coach, but was let go by the Mavericks before this season."
Allowing star players some level of autonomy between team and indpendent training is a balancing act, to be sure. It's a cross-sport example, but it was reportedly one of the reasons Russell Wilson didn't work out with the Denver Broncos. On the other hand, empowering stars to have some choice of who they work with isn't always the worst thing, especially for an international player like Doncic who may take some solace in working with a few people that share his native language.
We'll see if the Lakers go as far as inviting some of the exiled Mavs staffers back in official capacities or not.