{"id":866493,"date":"2026-10-01T01:06:23","date_gmt":"2026-10-01T01:06:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/866493\/"},"modified":"2026-10-01T01:06:23","modified_gmt":"2026-10-01T01:06:23","slug":"this-is-the-lakers-great-chemistry-experiment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/866493\/","title":{"rendered":"This is the Lakers’ Great Chemistry Experiment"},"content":{"rendered":"

Yes, the Lakers are indisputably Luka Doncic\u2019s team now. That was a given the moment LeBron James took his talents to Philadelphia (and yes, we\u2019ll get into that in a bit). And the moves that were made over the summer, to provide teammates that would fit Doncic\u2019s style and skills, made it obvious.<\/p>\n

But this is also Rob Pelinka\u2019s team, and his responsibility. And the extensive roster revamp carries a risk that could wind up right in the lap of the Lakers\u2019 president of basketball operations, should this go awry.<\/p>\n

Remember that Pelinka is an inherited employee, now that the Lakers\u2019 majority ownership has changed for the second time in 14 months. We don\u2019t yet know what new owners Bob Iger and Joshua Kushner have in mind, nor how quick they might be to act should things not go as hoped.<\/p>\n

But it\u2019s never wise to assume that there will be patience in the event things go wrong. And be assured: With this organization, any season that falls short of serious contention for Banner No. 18 is a season below expectations.<\/p>\n

Which is why LeBron\u2019s comment during the 76ers\u2019 media day<\/a> on Monday might have reverberated in the Lakers\u2019 building in El Segundo: \u201cI didn\u2019t leave my family to lose in the second round.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whether that was meant as a shot at his former team or not, that\u2019s how it sounded to some. And we can debate whether LeBron bolted out the door or was nudged toward the exit. The sense here is that it was indeed a mutual decision but the club made it clear to James and to agent Rich Paul that it was ready to go in a different direction.<\/p>\n

And consider this: Since their last full-season championship in 2010, the Lakers have gotten beyond that second round twice \u2013 in the COVID bubble in Orlando, Fla., in 2020 when they won Banner No. 17, and in 2023 when Denver swept them in four games in the Western Conference finals.<\/p>\n

Otherwise? In those seven other times (in 17 seasons) that they\u2019ve reached the postseason, they were booted in the first round four times, went out in the conference semis three times and reached Game 6 of any of those decisive series only once.<\/p>\n

Laker Exceptionalism, then, might still exist in the minds of the fan base or in the halls of the practice facility. But it hasn\u2019t had much impact on the court, in a Western Conference where the Golden State Warriors won four titles in eight seasons and the road to a banner now runs through Oklahoma City and San Antonio.<\/p>\n

Will a field trip to Slovenia help change the Lakers\u2019 fortunes? We\u2019ll find out, and it probably was an inspired idea for Doncic to pick up the tab for his teammates to join him in his home country for a four-day minicamp in August. That trip featured not only basketball but golf, sightseeing and, most importantly, bonding.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was an amazing trip,\u201d Doncic told reporters at Monday\u2019s Media Day. \u201cIt was very important for me to show them where I\u2019m from, and I think everybody liked it.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, in an interview with the Spectrum SportsNet crew that day, he added: \u201cIt was very important to get to know the guys outside of basketball and just spend time together.\u201d<\/p>\n

We know this: Many of the acquisitions this offseason \u2013 7-foot-2 rim protector and lob threat Walker Kessler,<\/a> 6-9 power forward Sandro Mamukelashvili,<\/a> backup center Kevon Looney,<\/a> forward (and former Bronny James<\/a> high school teammate) Ziaire Williams<\/a>, and veteran guards Matisse Thybulle,<\/a> Collin Sexton,<\/a> Quentin Grimes<\/a> and Jaden Hardy<\/a> \u2013 were considered largely because of their fit with Doncic<\/a> and Austin Reaves.<\/a><\/p>\n

Sometimes the expectations might be overly ebullient. The Spectrum SportsNet guys were throwing out comparisons between Kessler and San Antonio\u2019s Victor Wembanyama, which seems a little over the top. Then again, Pelinka did spend first-round draft picks in 2031 and \u201933 and swaps of first-rounders in \u201928 and \u201930 \u2013 followed by a four-year, $130 million contract \u2013 for a guy who has averaged 9.5 points. 9.3 rebounds and 2.4 bloced shots in 201 NBA games, and who played just five games last season before needing surgery to repair a torn labrum.<\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s realistic or otherwise, much is expected.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel 110 percent,\u201d Kessler said Monday. \u201cI mean, my shoulder feels better than it\u2019s ever felt. So to have that confidence in playing is going to be really important. \u2026 It\u2019s back to better than it was.\u201d<\/p>\n

In that same session Kessler addressed what almost assuredly is the elephant in the room. With this franchise, like few others in sports \u2013 the Boston Celtics in the NBA, for example, or teams like the Dodgers and New York Yankees in baseball \u2013 history mandates that the expectations become greater as soon as a player pulls on the uniform.<\/p>\n

And for those who don\u2019t meet those expectations, the pressure also becomes greater.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it\u2019s one of the biggest brands in all of sports internationally,\u201d Kessler said. \u201cEveryone loves the Lakers and wants them to succeed, and that can be looked at as pressure, so to speak.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think it\u2019s more of an opportunity to play for a historic franchise, to play for a franchise that has done \u2013 I mean, you can look to your left and see it,\u201d he added, gesturing to where a row of Lawrence O\u2019Brien Trophies were lined up in an office window overlooking the practice court.<\/p>\n

\u201cI mean, it\u2019s insane. To play for a history like this, I don\u2019t really feel pressure. I just feel grateful, grateful for this opportunity and grateful to play for this franchise.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is an experiment. If the chemistry is right and it works, this could be a fun season to watch.<\/p>\n

If it isn\u2019t and it doesn\u2019t, the fallout could include Pelinka\u2019s job.<\/p>\n

jalexander@scng.com<\/p>\n

\"LakersLakers star Luka Doncic listens to questions from reporters during the team’s annual preseason media day on Monday at UCLA Health Training Center in El Segundo. (Photo by Rob Curtis, Contributing Photographer)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Yes, the Lakers are indisputably Luka Doncic\u2019s team now. That was a given the moment LeBron James took…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":866494,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[64],"tags":[308553,6306,3014,355,99],"class_list":["post-866493","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-jim-alexander","tag-lakers","tag-luka-doncic","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866493","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=866493"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/866493\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/866494"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=866493"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=866493"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=866493"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}