𝗧𝗛𝗘 "𝗪𝗢𝗡𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗢𝗬," 𝗟𝗨𝗞𝗔 𝗗𝗢𝗡𝗖𝗜𝗖, 𝗝𝗢𝗜𝗡𝗦 𝗟𝗘𝗕𝗥𝗢𝗡 𝗝𝗔𝗠𝗘𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗗 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗟𝗢𝗦 𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗟𝗘𝗦 𝗟𝗔𝗞𝗘𝗥𝗦

 

top left to right: Luka landing in Los Angeles Sunday night, Luka and Dirk, Luka and Coach Pop. . bottom: Luka and the late Kobe Bryant

The "Wonder Boy," Luka Doncic, has joined the Los Angeles Lakers.  Magic Johnson is slapping his 12 foot ceilings while Jack Nicholson orders champagne.

It's incredulous that any NBA team would willingly depart from a 25 year old superstar, but that's just what the Dallas Mavericks did, citing Luka's repeated failure to monitor his own fitness, health and conditioning.  Sunday night, the Mavericks traded Doncic essentially for Laker's star Anthony Davis in a quiet behind-the-scenes deal, although, had they simply put Doncic out for bids, the haul of first round draft picks and players would have been record-setting. 

Not defending Doncic's seeming disregard for training and conditioning, but, perhaps it's hard to get motivated when any day of the week you can just roll out of bed and easily score on the world's most elite athletes, the players of the National Basketball Association.

Luka has been playing basketball against grown men since the age of 13 when he signed a five year contract with Real Madrid of the European League.  By 17 he was a league all-star and at 18, the MVP while his team won a league championship.

In the 2024 playoffs, Luka led the Dallas Mavericks past the Los Angeles Clippers, Phoenix Suns and Minnesota Timberwolves before losing to the Boston Celtics in the NBA finals as Doncic limped on a gimpy knee covered with bloody gauze.

Doncic's has been on the injured list since Christmas, but flew into LA Sunday night to join the Lakers.  Having observed this young man carefully for several years now and his competitive spirit, Doncic will likely be on an absolute mission. 

                      

On the left: Luka with his dad, Sasa Doncic, a basketball coach.  On the right, his mom, Mirjam Poterbin, a owner of beauty salons