9:08pm: The Lakers have listed Doncic and James as available, Marc Stein tweets.
3:52pm: Lakers superstars Luka Doncic and LeBron James have been upgraded to probable ahead of Monday’s game vs. Utah, tweets Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Both players were previously listed as questionable for Monday’s contest, which would mark Doncic’s Lakers debut.
Doncic, who was acquired on February 2 in a shocking trade with Dallas, has been out since December 25 due to a left calf strain. The Slovenian guard has appeared in 22 games this season (35.7 minutes), averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists and 2.0 steals per contest, with a shooting line of .464/.354/.767.
According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin (Twitter video link), every seat in Crypto.com arena has Doncic’s No. 77 jersey draped over it. Obviously, that indicates that the five-time All-NBA member is on track to play.
James, who has been on a tear of late, averaging 31.2 PPG, 9.4 RPG, 9.8 APG and 1.0 SPG on .556/.448/.805 shooting over his past five games, missed Saturday’s win vs. Indiana due to left ankle soreness, but it appears as though he’ll be return to action tonight. The Lakers have won 11 of their past 13 games in no small part due to James’ strong play.
Rookie forward Dalton Knecht, who is back with the Lakers after they rescinded their trade for Mark Williams over his medicals, has also been upgraded to probable on Monday for personal reasons, per Khobi Price of The Southern California News Group (Twitter link). Cam Reddish, another player involved in the failed deal, is out for personal reasons, per the league’s official injury report.
Doncic, 25, announced through his foundation on Monday that he would be donating $500K to assist in the L.A. wildfire relief efforts (Twitter link).
“To everyone affected by these fires: we’re here to help, now and for the long haul,” the statement reads in part.
For non-Lakers fan this is the worst thing to happen…
Showtime Lakers is fun to watch… Basketball fans just have to sit back and enjoy this…
Lmao no. This doesn’t come even remotely close to Kevin Durant signing with the 73-win Warriors. That ruined basketball for the next few seasons. Basically just threw your hands up if you weren’t a fan of the Cavs or Rockets (or the Spurs in 16-17, and we know how that went), and even then it was a damn joke. Only a multitude of injury issues made the 2019 championship a competitive one. Luka’s got a decent team around him, but one of their two best players is retiring in a couple years, and the team has obvious issues to address, even though they’re good.
Like yes, it sucks seeing a homegrown talent go to another team (especially the Lakers/Celtics), but for non-Mavs fans, it’s at least mitigated by him not signing with that team in FA, instead being traded there because Dallas’ GM is an arrogant fool.
For Mavs fans, it is the worst thing to happen. And I do feel for them wholeheartedly. But for everyone else, if you seriously think it’s the worst possible outcome, you need a reality check.
That’s all old news… Warriors are old and dysfunctional now…
Luka is generational and onoy just getting started…
Bruh, that happened in the middle of Steph Curry’s prime. A year removed from the only unanimous MVP in NBA history.
Worst-case scenario would be Luka going to the Celtics, Cavs, Rockets, or Thunder. Young or prime teams. The Lakers are, as a team, largely past their prime. Only Rui, Reaves, Luka, Vanderbilt, and now Kenect are still in their prime years among above-average players, with zero stars or likely additional stars aside from Luka. Rest of the roster is 28+ roleplayers and 40-year-old LeBron.