The King has spoken — and has made clear that he does not want a part in Luka Doncic’s decision to remain in Los Angeles.
LeBron James said that he does not plan to convince Doncic, 26, to stay with the Lakers for the long term, saying that it is not his “job,” according to ESPN.
Though that’s not to say he doesn’t want him to be part of the Lakers’ future plans.
“No, that ain’t my job,” James told the outlet. “I think … I don’t think, I know, Luka knows how I feel about him. And ultimately, that trade happened for the future. That’s not for me. Luka has to decide what he has to do with his future. He’s [26] years old, I’m 40, so he can’t be basing his career off me. That’s just real.
But I hope, obviously, [he stays long term]. Laker fans f–king love him here. L.A. has accepted him. We love him as a teammate, as a brother. But ultimately, he’s got to make a decision for him. S–t, I ain’t going to be around much longer
Doncic’s current deal has a player option after next season, but he is eligible for an extension this summer.
On Aug. 2, the Lakers can offer Doncic a four-year extension worth $229 million.
The Lakers have made their intentions about Doncic clear — they would like to sign him to a long-term deal.
The Athletic reported that Doncic is “widely expected” to sign a deal with the Lakers
I think Luka Doncic joining forces with the Los Angeles Lakers is a seismic event in NBA history,” Lakers general manager Pelinka said at his introductory news conference earlier this year.
Doncic was upset upon being unexpectedly dealt to the Lakers in February, having previously said that he wanted to retire with the Mavericks.
Despite saying that he wanted to stay with the Lakers ahead of the playoffs, Doncic will reportedly take time with his decision this offseason, per ESPN.
Doncic averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds and 7.5 assists in 28 games after the trade to the Lakers, but Los Angeles was bounced in the first round of the playoffs by the Timberwolves.
BATON ROUGE, La. — Former LSU star Angel Reese’s homecoming in the Chicago Sky’s WNBA exhibition opener was a smashing success.
Reese had 15 points and 10 rebounds, helping the Sky to a rousing 89-62 victory over the Brazilian national team on Friday night at the Pete Maravich Assembly Center.
Reese was smiling the moment she entered the arena where her college career took off after transferring from Maryland. She earned All-America honors twice and led LSU to the national title in 2023.
“I’m just happy to be back to see all the fans, even down to the security guards, because I know how much was put into this program,” said Reese, who’s entering her second season with the Sky after earning WNBA All-Rookie honors last year, when she set a league single season rebounding record.
A crowd of 6,373, many of whom wore Sky T-shirts and Reese No. 5 jerseys, cheered her and rookie teammate Hailey Van Lith’s every move. Van Lith was an LSU teammate of Reese in 2023-24 before playing her final collegiate season at TCU.
Van Lith entered the game to a loud ovation with 5:43 left in the third quarter and finished with seven points, five assists and three rebounds.
Reese and Van Lith were honored before the game with video highlights of their time at LSU. Tigers coach Kim Mulkey gave the duo bouquets and hugs.
Kia Nurse added 11 points for the Sky. Chicago’s Kamilla Cardoso, playing against her Brazilian countrywomen, had six points and eight rebounds.
Friday’s game was the first for new Sky coach Tyler Marsh. The Sky also debuted a revamped starting lineup, with veteran free agent signees Nurse and Courtney Vandersloot and trade acquisition Ariel Atkins joining Reese and Cardoso.
The result was a smooth offense guided by Vandersloot, a four-time all-league guard in her first 12 WNBA seasons with the Sky. She spent the last two years with the New York Liberty.
Brazil’s next stop in its U.S. tour will be an exhibition against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever on Sunday at the University of Iowa’s arena in Iowa City, where Clark starred in college.
The coach of the Clippers had never lost a Game 7, and so his players knew they could lean on Tyronn Lue to shepherd them in the most important game of their 2024-25 campaign.
But Lue was the first to say that he is the coach and doesn’t play, that his 4-0 mark in the seventh game of a playoff series is because “it takes really good players” to accomplish that tough feat and that he believed he had those really good players in Kawhi Leonard, James Harden and the rest of his crew to deal with the Denver Nuggets on Saturday in Game 7 at Ball Arena.
The odds, however, were against the Clippers winning this deciding game on the road and the Nuggets made sure they kept it in their favor with a 120-101 beatdown.
The home team had won 74.2% of the time in Game 7s, and by winning the best-of-seven series 4-3 over the Clippers, the Nuggets left little doubt while blowing the game open in the fourth quarter in building a 35-point lead.
“You hate to see them go out like this in a Game 7,” Lue said. “So, that’s very disappointing.”
When the Nuggets opened a 65-50 lead on an Aaron Gordon dunk, forcing a timeout, the fans began to chant, “Beat L.A.”
And they did in a big way, breaking the Clippers’ spirit in the third quarter with a 35-19 outburst, the start to sending the Clippers home for the summer to contemplate what might have been and sending the Nuggets for the second round against Oklahoma City.
I think we could have given a better effort, for sure,” said Leonard, who had 22 points. “At the time, I don’t think this team is 30-points better than us, as you seen throughout the first six games of this series. But got to give them credit. They came out and fought, ran hard in transition, got easy points and they made shots
Harden was a disappointment again, his seven points on two-for-eight shooting and 13 assists another low-point for him in this series.
Harden didn’t talk after the game, just like he didn’t talk after losses in Game 4 and 5.
“They played harder,” said Ivica Zubac, who had a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds. “They beat us in every aspect of the game. That was the difference
Nikola Jokic wasn’t as sharp as he has been this series, but he finished with 16 points on six-for-14 shooting, eight rebounds, eight assists and five fouls that limited his time on the court.
Gordon worked over the Clippers for 22 points, Jamal Murray had 16, and Clippers nemesis Russell Westbrook relished all of his 16 points against his former teammates.
Lue made a change to his lineup, inserting Derrick Jones Jr. as a starter in place of Kris Dunn and then starting Nicolas Batum in the third quarter over Jones, which was a sign to his team that he was willing to do what’s necessary in a Game 7.
“In a Game 7, there are no tactics,” Batum said. “It’s who wants it more. They clearly wanted it more than us.
Defense is where it was going to start for the Clippers and it’s what allowed them to be in control at the outset of the game.
They swarmed Jokic in the first, making it so tough that he missed his first five shots in the quarter and scored just two points.
They stifled Murray in the first 12 minutes, making it so difficult for him that he missed his first four shots and had just one point.
They put a grip on the Nuggets in the first quarter, holding them to 38.1% shooting from the field and 25% from three-point range and 21 points.
But all that momentum the Clippers had in the first shifted in the second quarter.
They were unable to hold the Nuggets for those 12 minutes, giving up 37 points, allowing them to make 50% of their shots and 50% (four for eight) from three-point range.
It went downhill from there for the Clippers.
They went 50-32 during the regular season, the same record as the Nuggets. They were the fifth-seeded team in the Western Conference.
But in the end, none of that mattered. The Clippers’ season is over.
“I would say this group deserves a better finish, I would say,” said Bogdan Bogdanovic, who had 12 points off the bench. “Not a way to finish it. But we got to look ourselves in the mirror. That’s it.”
