{"id":34329,"date":"2025-07-24T18:19:08","date_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:19:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/34329\/"},"modified":"2025-07-24T18:19:08","modified_gmt":"2025-07-24T18:19:08","slug":"luka-doncic-made-marcus-smart-a-believer-in-joining-the-lakers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/34329\/","title":{"rendered":"Luka Doncic made Marcus Smart a believer in joining the Lakers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A call came from Luka Doncic<\/a> a couple of times, at first making Marcus Smart<\/a> think it wasn\u2019t true and then eventually making him believe that Doncic was a Lakers salesman and that he wanted Smart to be a part of what they were building here in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t like they had a strong \u201crelationship,\u201d but Smart said he and Doncic have \u201ca mutual understanding and respect for each other\u201d from meeting on the court in past seasons.<\/p>\n

So, when the calls came while Smart was training while trying to figure out his next move after he had agreed to a contract buyout from the Washington Wizards, he was swayed by Doncic to join the Lakers<\/a> after clearing waivers.<\/p>\n

Smart, who signed a two-year deal for $11 million with the Lakers, with a player option for the second season, smiled as he told the stories during his introductory news conference Tuesday about talking to Doncic and being persuaded to join him and LeBron James.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt first came, my agent, I\u2019m working out, and I get a call from my agent saying, you know, \u2018Hey Luka reached out.\u2019 And I\u2019m like \u2018yeah whatever\u2019 you know?\u2019 Like all right,\u201d Smart said at the Lakers\u2019 practice facility. \u201cAnd then another day, same thing \u2014 Luka reached out again and now it\u2019s real. It\u2019s no longer what-ifs. It\u2019s real and it\u2019s something we need to talk about. And that was a great feeling, like I said, and that\u2019s kind of what kind of got things going for me to be here and I\u2019m excited to be here.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Lakers were in need of a point-of-attack perimeter defender such as Smart, especially with Dorian Finney-Smith going to Houston.<\/p>\n

Smart was the NBA\u2019s defensive player of the year in 2022 when he played for the Boston Celtics and has been on the NBA\u2019s All-Defensive first team three times.<\/p>\n

Knowing that Doncic and James are \u201ctwo greats with [the] greatest basketball IQs that I\u2019ve ever seen in this era\u201d made it easy for Smart to become their teammates.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd when you get a guy like Luka, calling, referencing, checking on you, trying to see where you at to see if you want to come and join something special that he\u2019s trying to cook up over here,\u201d Smart said. \u201cAnd for him to say that he can really use my help, that meant a lot. Played against Luka a lot. Been on a lot of opposing ends of Luka magic. And to be able to come out and be on his side at this time, it means a lot.\u201d<\/p>\n

Doncic has a decision to make with the Lakers.<\/p>\n

On Aug. 2, Doncic and the Lakers can talk about a contract extension.<\/p>\n

He can sign a four-year deal for $224 million or a three-year deal for $161 million with a player option in 2028, which would then allow Doncic to sign a max deal in 2028 that would give him 35% of the salary cap for that season.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Smart was asked what kind of recruiter is Doncic.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the same. He\u2019s a competitor. He\u2019s just the same way. He has that competitive nature when he\u2019s talking,\u201d Smart said. \u201cHe\u2019s intrigued and that\u2019s it. He didn\u2019t really have to say much. Luka, his name, his ability, what he has done, [speaks] for himself. And for me, like I said, I\u2019ve been on the other end of Luka magic. So to be able to come and join and see it and witness it on the other side is something that I was like, \u2018why not give it a shot?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Wizards <\/p>\n

Wizards guard Marcus Smart (36) drives against Pistons forward Simone Fontecchio during a game last season.<\/p>\n

(Duane Burleson \/ Associated Press)<\/p>\n

Smart, 31, played in only 54 games the last two seasons, injuries costing him time that he spent both with the Memphis Grizzlies and Wizards. In the 34 games he played between both teams, Smart averaged 9.0 points, 2.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists and shot 34.8% from three-point range.<\/p>\n

\u201cYeah, I\u2019m very motivated. You know, the last two years, for me, was in my eyes, a disappointment,\u201d Smart said. \u201cInjuries kind of stopped me and held me back. But like I told my wife and my family, you know, everything happens for a reason. And it\u2019s funny that 12 years ago, I could have been here [with the Lakers] and now it\u2019s full circle and I\u2019m here. And like I said, everything happens for a reason. And I just look at those reasons was for me to be here, to not play for people to look at me and say, \u2018you know what, maybe he isn\u2019t the same?\u2019 And now that allows me to be in a place where I\u2019m supposed to be.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smart was at his best with the Celtics, where he spent nine years and reached the playoffs every year, including reaching the NBA Finals in 2022.<\/p>\n

Over the course of his 11 seasons in the NBA, Smart averaged 10.6 points per game, 3.4 rebounds and 4.6 assists.<\/p>\n

The Lakers were 50-32 last season, but lost in the first round of the playoffs.<\/p>\n

But he knows the Lakers are about winning championships and the chance to play with Doncic and James in high-stakes basketball games played a part in his decision as well.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s at the top,\u201d Smart said. \u201cI mean, the main goal, the reason you go out and you compete the way you compete is to try to win championships and what better place to be able to do that than here, where the show starts and where the show ends. So, that was definitely a big part of it, being able to get back on that stage, being able to get to a team that definitely could use me and I know I can make an impact and I can help as well and that was a perfect fit here.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A call came from Luka Doncic a couple of times, at first making Marcus Smart think it wasn\u2019t…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":34330,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[15199,5460,6306,3013,3591,3014,20467,355,14797,13544,28442,5190,99,2384,11948,2394],"class_list":["post-34329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-call","tag-game","tag-lakers","tag-lebron-james","tag-lot","tag-luka-doncic","tag-marcus-smart","tag-nba","tag-part","tag-point","tag-reason","tag-season","tag-sports","tag-time","tag-washington-wizards","tag-year"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=34329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/34329\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/34330"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=34329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=34329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=34329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}