You know ... Luka Doncic has a knack for good PR. (Or whoever is in charge of his PR does, I should say). Hours before the Los Angeles Lakers tipped off their new season against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, a full-page advertisement ran in the Los Angeles Times, "authored" and paid for by Doncic. The ad was a letter to the city of Los Angeles promising that Doncic's Lakers would give everything they have every night in pursuit of a championship.
“So here is my promise to you," the letter read. "We are going to give you everything we have, every single night. No excuses. No nights off.”
A full page ad from Luka Dončić is in today’s LA Times pic.twitter.com/7KbUydvYL1
— Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) October 21, 2026
Luka Doncic penned a letter to Lakers fans, promising max effort every night
Elsewhere in the letter, Doncic acknowledged the weight of wearing the purple and gold. He came across as a leader who is unafraid of that burden, but rather embraces it, and as a franchise player who is more than prepared to be the undisputed face of the Lakers now that LeBron James has left town. This letter and its publication were a terrific touch from Doncic. No notes.
That being said, it's a letter that will look cringey in hindsight if either of these two things comes to pass in 2026-27 ... a notable lapse in defensive effort from Doncic (and others) during any stretch of the season, or another disappointing season of injuries from Doncic. Sadly, both of those scenarios cannot in any way be ruled out in October, seeing as both have followed Luka throughout his NBA career thus far.
No one will "blame" Doncic if he misses significant time this season due to injury. But what about the whole defensive effort side of things? Now that's something that can bring with it some blame. Luka's letter painted a picture of a star who is ready to hold himself and his teammates accountable for maximum effort on the floor every night. Ironically, Luka's never really been that guy in his career. His efforts overall are never in question, but those efforts have always leaned drastically towards the offensive end of the floor.
That's not going to cut it anymore, not for the Lakers' contention chances, and not for the chances of this letter's promise being kept. To keep the Lakers in the genuine title conversation, Luka will need to maintain a respectable floor as a defender every night. The NBA is just too talented -- and there are too many good teams with gifted guards -- for Luka to be able to coast some nights defensively.
Will Luka Doncic maintain decent effort on defense this year for the Lakers, or what?
Lakers GM Rob Pelinka brought in a guy like Quentin Grimes to be the tone-setter defensively, but Grimes and others' work will be undone if Luka breaks down defensively midway through the season and decides he's not going to exert much effort on that end until the playoffs. It's happened before.
Luka has a ready example in Jalen Brunson when it comes to meeting a standard defensively on a nightly basis. Brunson isn't a good defender by any means (and he's small), but he never completely packs it in on that end. He competes enough to minimize his negative impact, and the rest of the Knicks around him are able to pick up the slack.
At 6-foot-8, Doncic doesn't have the size problem that Brunson has. If Luka can hold himself to a similar standard effort-wise, the Lakers will be in fine shape, and the promises of the letter will be kept.
Add us as a preferred source on Google