What Luka Doncic did for his Lakers teammates was unique and different but no less impactful. It was a view of how the superstar guard ran the team.
At a team-building event Doncic hosted, he took his teammates to a Porsche driving experience after Tuesday’s practice. He covered the entire cost of the event in which his teammates tested Porsche models on a track.
This impressed Lakers center Deandre Ayton so much, making him smile when asked about Doncic’s move.
“I really appreciate Luka for that,” Ayton said. “I’ve never done this before, where the star players really take care of the team like that. Something like that is really crazy. I’ve never heard of it or been in a Porsche before. So it was definitely my first time. I didn’t know Luka liked cars like that. So, yeah, him and LeBron [James]. It was good to see them behind the wheel. Seeing LeBron behind a car is dangerous.
At 7 feet tall, Ayton was asked if he was comfortable driving the car.
“Yes, they had cars they could carry a 7-footer in,” he said. “I don’t know if it was custom or if that’s how they’re made or other factors. But just seeing LeBron James in a sports car pushing, I was like, ‘Yo, he knows cars.’ “Him doing his thing, it was pretty cool to see.
All summer and during training camp, the Lakers talked about building team chemistry.
They explained that doing things together off the court is an important part of building chemistry and learning to be a teammate.
Doncic, along with James, is considered one of their leaders and this has been seen as magnanimous.
“Yeah, I mean, anytime some of our max players and guys that have been in the league for a while can bring something to the team, it’s awesome,” Gabe Vincent said. “It’s great when we come together and do something a little more extravagant than maybe what we would have done alone. Everyone can walk away with a bit of cool. [stuff].
“Most importantly, you can do it together, you know what I mean? Sharing experiences is one of the quickest ways to get closer. So we’re very grateful to Luka for putting this one together. Everyone had a great time. It’s great to see him feeling more comfortable.”
Vincent also contributed to a team building moment.
Over the summer, he invited his teammates to the sand dunes of Manhattan Beach.
It was his show of leadership after so many practices and his way of helping build that team chemistry.
“So I tried to get the guys together, most of them were young guys, but I would just go out on the sand, play a little Spike Ball and work on the sand a little bit,” Vincent said. “It’s something to come out of this [practice facility] building, you know what I mean? In the summer we spend so much time at the gym, doing the same thing over and over again, that sometimes we kind of need a change of scenery. So it’s something different for us to do, something to do together. We had a great time with it.
Ayton becomes more comfortable
After two preseason games and several more practices, Ayton began to feel more comfortable with his role in the Lakers’ offense.
He took more shots in Game 2 against the Warriors, making three of eight from the field, than in Game 1 against the Suns, missing both shots, and he scored more points against the Warriors (seven) than against the Suns (two). He has blocked two shots in each game and has a total of 15 rebounds.
“How comfortable am I? Um, really comfortable, where I’m starting to know their plays and where the screens are and in general, Lakers terms and Lakers basketball,” he said. “So it becomes quite easy to just read the speech and what [Lakers coach] JJ [Redick] likes and what he wants us to be known for, especially when it comes to our rhythm attack and transition attack. So yeah, the terminology and everything is starting to come easy and I feel in control at both ends.
