Amid Mark Walter selling the Los Angeles Lakers to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger is a player who has unfortunately dealt with way too much change than he should have when it comes to meeting new owners. That would be Luka Doncic.
When news of the stunning sale broke on Wednesday, several people were quick to point out that, entering his ninth season in the NBA, this will already be Doncic's fifth different majority ownership group. For a player of Luka's caliber, that is rather wild to think about.
Doncic is not built in the mold of a role player who relocates often, constantly meeting new teams and new owners by extension. Luka is one of the best in the world. This is about all the moving pieces around him, and how there has been a surprising lack of stability in that department.
With the Dallas Mavericks, Doncic went from primarily dealing with Mark Cuban to the Adelson and Dumont families. That got him traded in the process, whoops. In Los Angeles, Luka has gone from the Buss family to Walter's group, and now it is going to be Iger and Kushner. No one would blame him if he was a little exhausted from all that turnover.
Luka Doncic is embracing another round of 'big changes'
To his credit, Doncic sounded ready to deal with even more change in his career after news of the sale broke. The Lakers superstar posted a message on Twitter/X to express as much.
"Being a Laker means everything to me, and I’m excited to get back on the court and bring a championship to LA. I’ve gotten used to big changes over these last few years, but I know that no matter what, there is no limit to the potential of this iconic franchise."
Doncic added that he looked forward to meeting the two leaders of the new ownership group. Luka highlighted his desire to work with Iger and Kushner on 'building something special' in Los Angeles.
What is interesting about this is the new owners have yet to properly acquaint themselves with Doncic. Iger stated as much in an interview with Khobi Price.
Building a relationship with the franchise cornerstone will be important for Kushner and Iger. Walter and his ownership group was said to have 'regular contact' with Doncic during their time in charge. That feels like the bare minimum here for a guy who should be afforded a sense of stability amid another go-around of big changes during his career.
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