From LeBron James to Luka Doncic: What does the new Lakers star contract mean

Luka Doncic He lost weight, but in consideration he will earn a lot of money. The thing is The new contract he signed with Los Angeles Lakers He eliminated the player option for the closing of the 2026-27 season and will allow him, in 2028, to get out of the link and sign a new agreement for 35% of the salary cap, which It is projected in five years and 417 million dollars.

Basically, Slovenno achieves what he could not in Dallas: be exchanged to Hollywood in the middle of last seasonin which it was perhaps the most resonant transfer in history, it failed to sign what would have been the extension of the largest super contract in NBA history: $ 315 million this summer.

Doncic’s firm comes days after having come to light – being a lid of Men’s Health – with a physical and food change that surprised the world. Luka was the first to realize what his physique was in the past playoffs: slow, heavy, semiprofesional. A galaxy talent in a body of Maxibásquet. A picture of Fernando Botero: Cinetism at Cruise speed by obligation and not by decision. All before a formula one like Anthony Edwards, accustomed to displaying their arts at maximum speed. The contrast was British humor, a Banksy Grafitti: a strange element placed in an atypical context to cause consternation and/or humor in equal parts.

Maybe, Nico Harrison, he was right. But of course, the tickets are not given, much less in the NBA. What Doncic did this summer, next to his medical body, is to send a message, very well received by Rob Pelinka and company. I can be that, but I can also be this. Not only that: I am willing to do what LeBron did, in terms of physical care, so that LeBron at the end of this season he can finally stop being.

Rest. Double shift. Goodbye to hamburgers and alcohol. Welcome salmon, avocado and nuts. Disinflame Gain movement. Stability. Growth.

A new beginning: Welcome to the Luka Doncic team

Every story has a starting point. From here in more, this will be the Doncic team. Only one firm was missing and it was the one that happened this Saturday. Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart are already from their hand. For James, then, season 2025-26 will be pure mentoring.

Clear the X is nothing other than to advance between the mist. The only certainty here is that there is absolutely nothing guaranteed. I just know that I don’t know anything. “The beginning,” Luka posted with his new insured link. However, beyond its rejuvenated appearance, it is not about arriving, but about staying. We have already seen a FIT version of Luka Magic prior to the FIBA 2023 World Cup, and yet at the close of the NBA season its physiognomy ended up being another.

Doncic understood, anyway, that to talent you have to accompany it. At a certain level, it is not enough to dream: you have to specify. Luka is not a Nikola Jokic Small version. It must be, to shine, A clear version of Magic Johnsonwith the particularity, the pinch of Balkan pepper, of The countercyclical execution. Dress me slowly, I’m in a hurry. Dribbling high, rhythm control, deceleration as tactic within a strategy. Oblique angles, impossible passes, legend annotations. That knew how to be Doncic. When he destroyed the Euroleague in Real Madrid. When they underestimated it to the draft. That has to be again. With one more sheet in its wonder manual: the defense must, at least, be decent.

James will leave the Lakers being the historical scorer of the franchise. In The Top 10 of the historical purple and gold legendswith concrete chance of having a statue on the shores of the Staples Center. He has, then, a last duty for which he will be remembered. Teach for who is coming. Display the greatness of king. For Doncic, this firm is a benefit, but also a responsibility. So far, the helm was shared. As of today, a new captain enters the way.

For Lakers, this decision means two things. The first recognition and thanks for assimilation, for understanding the role that touches you in these lands. And the second, an implicit but eloquent message: trust is an agreement between parties. It is born, develops, and beyond possible storms, it should not die.

The change of command is a fact. From LeBron to Luka. To infinity and beyond. A new script begins to be written in Hollywood. Welcome to a new shared illusion.

They open the new Lakers.

Welcome, dear friends, to the new Luka Doncic in its ultra light version.