EL SEGUNDO — When Luka Doncic first arrived in Southern California after the shocking blockbuster trade that sent him from the Dallas Mavericks to the Lakers, he acknowledged that he still has more to accomplish.
Despite all of the individual accolades he racked up in his first six full seasons in the league, there’s one major prize that the 26-year-old Slovenian star hasn’t accomplished: winning an NBA title.
The urgency to accomplish that goal only grew when Doncic joined a franchise that has already won 17, the second-most in league history, with Larry O’Brien Championship trophies sitting outside of a window overlooking the practice court – a constant reminder of what the organization strives for.
“You don’t come here for nothing else but championships,” Doncic said during his Lakers introductory news conference on Feb. 4. “So, I have everything left to prove. And the goal is to win a championship.”
Just 2½ months into his Lakers tenure and on the cusp of making his playoff debut for the team in Game 1 of the Lakers’ best-of-seven first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Saturday at Crypto.com Arena, Doncic feels like the Lakers can contend for a championship.
“We have a great team,” Doncic said after Thursday’s practice. “We have guys that are willing to go to war. Everybody’s staying together. The chemistry is high. We do for sure have a chance.”
The Lakers feel they were able to fast-track their chemistry despite this iteration of the team not being together for too long not only because of their communication off the court, but because of the moments they shared on it.
Among them were victories over the Denver Nuggets, Clippers (twice) and New York Knicks within 3½ weeks of Doncic making his Lakers debut; supporting Doncic during his return to Dallas in the April 9 road win over the Mavericks; and clinching a 50-win season and the Western Conference’s No. 3 seed with the April 11 home win against the Houston Rockets, which capped a two-week period in which they also beat the Memphis Grizzlies, Oklahoma City Thunder and Rockets twice.
“We did a good job trying to jell as best as we could with the little time that we had,” forward Dorian Finney-Smith said.
But much of the Lakers’ internal confidence in their chance to contend for a championship this year stems from Doncic, who led the Mavericks to last year’s NBA Finals before they fell to the Boston Celtics.
Doncic’s playoff scoring average of 30.9 points is the second-highest in league history behind Michael Jordan (33.45).
It was notable that when asked what stood out from the tribute video the Mavericks put together for his return to American Airlines Center last week, Doncic pointed to his game-winning shot over Minnesota center Rudy Gobert in Game 2 of last year’s Western Conference finals.
“I like big games,” Doncic said. “Playoffs [are] a fun time. Everybody plays 100%. It’s just fun to be out there.”
And in Doncic, the Lakers believe they have a player who can lead them to their ultimate goal.
“It’s exciting,” Finney-Smith said. “I already know he’s going to come with the juice. He loves the moment. Knowing him, probably gotta calm him down too because he’s going to be barking. It’s going to be exciting, it’s going to be exciting.”
SERIES SCHEDULE
(Best-of-seven, all times PT)
Game 1: Saturday, at L.A., 5:30 p.m. (ABC/Ch. 7)
Game 2: Tuesday, at L.A., 7 p.m. (TNT/SSN)
Game 3: Friday, April 25, at Minnesota, 6:30 p.m. (ESPN/SSN)
Game 4: Sunday, April 27 at Minnesota, 12:30 p.m. (ABC/Ch. 7)
*Game 5: Wednesday, April 30, at L.A., time TBD (TV TBD)
*Game 6: Friday, May 2 at Minnesota, time TBD (TV TBD)
*Game 7: Sunday, May 4 at L.A., time TBD (TV TBD)
* – If necessary