Luka Doncic’s secret to leading Lakers without LeBron James

LOS ANGELES – When the Los Angeles Lakers reconvened from the offseason earlier this month, it was the first time that Luka Doncic would have a full training camp and preseason with the team. Doncic was acquired by the Lakers in the now infamous trade ahead of last season’s deadline, and he had to acquiesce to the team on the fly without the usual ramp up to begin a season.

Back during Media Day, Luka Doncic spoke about how he wanted to use the Lakers’ preseason and training camp schedule to work on his leadership role with the team, and following the Lakers’ final preseason game last Friday, he mentioned the ways in which he’s grown in that regard, especially with LeBron James sidelined due to injury.

“Just being myself, kind of joking around a little bit with them,” Doncic said. “And being more vocal on the court, trying to help the guys get in the right spots.”

But even with James sidelined to begin the season, Doncic mentioned how he’s still been around the team in practice and the impact he’s still been able to have.

“Just talking and helping us out,” Doncic said. “He has a lot of years in this, he’s helping everybody, he knows a lot about basketball.”

Lakers final tune up before season opener

The Lakers ended up losing their last preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, 117-116, but in the end the final score didn’t matter much as head coach JJ Redick opted to play the bench and the two-way contract players late in the fourth quarter.

But for the first three quarters at least, the game served as a dress rehearsal for the Lakers’ season opener on Tuesday against the Golden State Warriors. Doncic looked like he was in midseason form, finishing with 31 points, five rebounds, nine assists, one steal and one blocked shot in 32 minutes. He shot 8-of-16 from the field, 6-of-11 from the three-point line and 9-of-12 from the free-throw line.

When the Lakers regulars were on the court, they were moving the ball and getting everyone touches while generating good shots. Doncic also spoke about the importance of the ball movement and how well the offense looked heading into the start of the regular season.

“It’s very important. You see we had 28 assists, that’s amazing,” Doncic said. “We could have had a lot more, I think I missed like three or four lobs that I normally get, but I think it’s great. There were a lot of possessions that everybody touched the ball, everybody was moving, so I think it’s very important.

Doncic appeared in 28 games for the Lakers last season following the trade, at a little over 35 minutes per game. He averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.6 steals with splits of 43.8 percent shooting from the field, 37.9 percent shooting from the three-point line and 79.1 percent shooting from the free-throw line.