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Luka Doncic Was Amazed by LeBron James’s Classy Gesture Before Lakers Debut

Andy Nesbitt

Luka Doncic loved what LeBron James did for him before his Lakers debut.
Luka Doncic loved what LeBron James did for him before his Lakers debut. / Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
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Luka Doncic's debut with the Los Angeles Lakes couldn't have gone any better for the 25-year-old guard on Monday night. He had 14 points in a win, he looked like he had so much fun making a sweet pass to LeBron James, and he was able to sit out the entire fourth quarter while the Lakers rolled to their sixth straight victory.

The best moment from his debut, however, seemed to come hours before tipoff when James texted Doncic about player introductions. James is usually the last one announced before home games but he wanted his new star guard to have that experience.

Doncic talked about how cool that was for him and added that he'd like James to go back to being announced last the rest of the way.

"He texted me in the morning and he said whatever you want and for him to text me that is just amazing," Doncic said. "It shows what kind of person he is. He let me have my moment and I really appreciate that."

Here was Doncic's introduction:

Next up for the Lakers is a road game against the Jazz on Wednesday night.

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Andy Nesbitt
ANDY NESBITT

Andy Nesbitt is the assistant managing editor of audience engagement at Sports Illustrated. He works closely with the Breaking and Trending News team to shape SI’s daily coverage across all sports. A 20-year veteran of the sports media business, he has worked for Fox Sports, For the Win, The Boston Globe and NBC Sports, having joined SI in February 2023. Nesbitt is a golf fanatic who desperately wants to see the Super Bowl played on a Saturday night.

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