{"id":843062,"date":"2026-08-02T20:27:10","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T20:27:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/843062\/"},"modified":"2026-08-02T20:27:10","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T20:27:10","slug":"rams-puka-nacua-has-perfect-response-to-lakers-entering-luka-doncic-era","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/843062\/","title":{"rendered":"Rams&#8217; Puka Nacua Has Perfect Response to Lakers Entering Luka Doncic Era"},"content":{"rendered":"<p id=\"inline-text-0\" class=\"mt-[18px] md:mt-0 mb-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"72\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/lakers\/onsi\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Los Angeles Lakers<\/a> have officially entered the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/lakers\/onsi\/dillon-brooks-takes-blunt-shot-at-luka-doncic-new-look-lakers\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">Luka Doncic<\/a> era of the storied franchise, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/lakers\/onsi\/shaquille-oneal-understands-lebron-james-complicated-lakers-legacy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">LeBron James<\/a> deciding to move on this summer and sign with the Philadelphia 76ers in NBA free agency.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-1\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"75\">Building around Doncic has been the team\u2019s primary focus during the offseason, and the front office has been extremely busy in their efforts to do just that, with several new faces heading to Los Angeles ahead of the 2026-27 campaign.<\/p>\n<p>Rams\u2019 Puka Nacua Ready to Rock Luka Doncic Jersey in Post-LeBron Era<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-3\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7b\">Los Angeles Rams superstar Puka Nacua is a diehard Lakers fan and is frequently seen at Crypto.com Arena during games while supporting the purple and gold with a jersey.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-4\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7e\">Although Nacua is a big fan of LeBron, the Rams wide receiver isn\u2019t switching allegiances to the 76ers next season, nor is he going to Philadelphia to watch any games, as he made it clear that he\u2019ll be sporting a Luka Doncic jersey moving forward and will likely be in attendance when the 76ers come to town, via <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/michaeljduarte\/status\/2082602603830231437\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">Michael Duarte of The California Post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">I asked Los Angeles Rams WR Puka Nacua about his favorite player LeBron James leaving the Lakers to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers and if he still plans on supporting the Lakers this season now that the King has abdicated his throne. <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/lebron?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#lebron<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/rams?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#rams<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/nfl?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#nfl<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hashtag\/puka?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">#puka<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/89NEtJ3QYG\" rel=\"nofollow\">pic.twitter.com\/89NEtJ3QYG<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Michael J. Duarte (@michaeljduarte) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/michaeljduarte\/status\/2082602603830231437?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" rel=\"nofollow\">July 29, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think so, 100%,\u201d Nacua said. \u201cI do have a Luka Doncic jersey, so I\u2019m here. Sadly, I\u2019m definitely not flying out to Philly to make any of those games, but I did see him out in New York and I told them that I know we got a lot of tight ends and we\u2019re running 13 personnel so if he ever wants to hang up the jersey we got some cleats for him for sure.\u201d<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-7\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7m\">With LeBron officially set to suit up for the 76ers for the upcoming season, the next order of business for the NBA is putting together the schedule for the 2026-27 campaign.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-8\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"7p\">One of the most anticipated games of the season will be when LeBron returns to Los Angeles to face the Lakers for the first time in a 76ers jersey. Practically every game the 76ers play next season will be must-see TV, as they are expected to be a legitimate title contender while the four-time champion potentially plays out his final year in the league.<\/p>\n<p>When Will the 2026-27 NBA Schedule Be Released?<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/01kz2167hwm6hhx4c2m8.jpg\" alt=\"NBA commissioner Adam Silver\" title=\"NBA commissioner Adam Silver\" width=\"360\" height=\"203\" class=\"undefined w-full w-full blur-[5px]\" q:id=\"82\"\/><\/p>\n<p>Feb 15, 2026; Inglewood, California, USA; NBA commissioner Adam Silver speaks to media after the 75th NBA All-Star Game at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-11\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"86\">The NBA schedule is generally released midway through August, as the league waits for most movement to die down, which it has at this point. LeBron&#8217;s decision was likely the last big move of the offseason, so the league could move quickly to set the schedule for the 2026-27 season.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-12\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"89\">Last year, the NBA schedule dropped on Aug. 14, the earliest it has been released in recent years. In the previous three years, the schedule came out on Aug. 15 (2024-25) and Aug. 17 twice (2023-24, 2022-23).<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-13\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8c\">So if the league continues this trend, the schedule for the 2026-27 campaign will be released very soon. A few matchups will likely be leaked before the full schedule drops, including which matchups will be played on the first day of the regular season and on Christmas Day.<\/p>\n<p id=\"inline-text-14\" class=\"my-[18px] [&amp;_a]:text-primary my-f-1.5\" q:key=\"0\" q:id=\"8f\">Sign up to our <a href=\"https:\/\/www.si.com\/nba\/lakers\/onsi\/newsletter\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">free newsletter<\/a> and follow us on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/@RyanWardLA\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">YouTube<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/RyanWardLA\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Facebook<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/LakersOnSI\" rel=\"nofollow\" target=\"_blank\">X\/Twitter<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/ryanwardla\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Instagram<\/a> for the latest news.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"22\" height=\"22\" alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/assets.minutemediacdn.com\/platform\/google_discover_icon.svg\" class=\"shrink-0\"\/>Add us as a preferred source on Google<a aria-label=\"Follow si.com on Google News\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=si.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer nofollow\" class=\"flex h-[30px] w-[30px] shrink-0 items-center justify-center rounded-full bg-primary font-group-large text-sm font-medium text-white transition-colors hover:bg-secondary focus:bg-secondary md:w-auto md:gap-2.5 md:px-4 md:py-[5px]\">Follow<\/a><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Los Angeles Lakers have officially entered the Luka Doncic era of the storied franchise, with LeBron James&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":843063,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-843062","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843062","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=843062"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/843062\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/843063"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=843062"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=843062"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=843062"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}