Beach Volleyball legends and current political leaders packed the Charley Saikley Six Man Golden Masters team sponsored by AVL (women’s American Volleyball League) Manhattan Beach Coastas, Digsters and Ion. (Kneeling) Beach Volleyball Hall of Famers Singin Smith and Randy Stoklos, and (back row) El Segundo Mayor Chris Pimentel, Chris Holden, former Ram Brett Faryniarz, Hermosa Councilmember Dean Francois, “Voice of the Rams, and “emcee of the party that was the AVP” Sam “Rams’ House” Lagana, Kevin Sutton, Steve Ascheer, former AVP player Bruk Vandeweghe, Ion founder Dave Behar, Redondo Councilmember Brad Waller, Manhattan Councilmember and Joe Franklin. Not pictured: Beach Volleyball Hall of Famer Dane Selznick
by Paul Teetor
Luka Doncic will be a Laker for at least the next four seasons. And the Lakers will be Luka’s team for at least the next four years.
Consider his signing of a three-year contract extension for $165 million Saturday morning – the first day he could have signed it, under league rules – the first of many major accomplishments by the Lakers’ new owners. There had been plenty of people around the NBA who thought that Luka wanted to be an unrestricted free agent next summer so he could leave the Lakers, but that turned out to be unfounded speculation.
Now the Lakers are definitely Luka’s team, and he – and his wants and needs – are management’s highest priority. LeBron James will just have to accept the second-banana role – for the first time ever in his 22-year NBA career — or look for a face-saving way out of town.
A lot of dramatic things happened on the LA sports scene while All Ball was away at Pickleball camp this summer. The Dodgers showed their bi-polar nature – a 9-1 run in late June/early July followed by a 7-game losing streak in mid-July. But up or down on the field, they have remained in first place in the NL West for the entire season – so far.
And Shohei Ohtani kept belting homers – 38 at last count – to stay on track for matching or even surpassing last season’s total of 54 homers. And of course, he made his first pitching appearances in a year and a half. None of them went longer than a few innings, but still it was a promising start towards what the Dodgers will need from him come the playoffs in October.
The Clippers traded away Norman Powell – arguably their most valuable player last season – in return for former All-Star Bradley Beal and an under-achieving, over-rated power forward named John Collins.
All of these developments, however, are small potatoes compared to the Godzilla move of the summer: the $6 billion sale of the Lakers by Jerry Buss’ heirs to a group headed by Mark Walter, who is now the controlling owner of both the Dodgers and the Lakers.
Oh sure, the new owners told Jeanne Buss she could continue to call herself the President of the Lakers. And she will probably come into the El Segundo offices every day to answer the phones and polish the 17 championship trophies that are her father’s legacy.
But after more than a dozen years of front office ineptitude and incompetence, broken only by the Covid championship of 2020 that will always be tainted by the pandemic and all the craziness that went with it, the Lakers will now – hopefully — take on the same professionalism and far-sighted management style that has characterized the Dodgers for the last dozen years.
That new Lakers era started Saturday morning when the news broke that the franchise and Luka had come to an agreement on a contract extension on the first day Doncic was eligible to extend his deal after being traded to the Lakers on Feb. 1.
Luka’s extension is for three years and $165 million, with a player option for 2028-29. For the math challenged – like All Ball – that works out to an average of $55 million per year.
Not bad.
Under the terms of the new contract, the 26-year-old Slovenian superstar – he made the All-NBA first team five straight seasons — has a $45.9 million salary for the 2025-26 season. His $48.9 million player option for 2026-27 will be replaced with a $51 million salary, followed by $55.1 million in 2027-28 and $59.2 million in his player-option year.
The Lakers acquired Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in a stunning trade that sent 10-time all Star Anthony Davis to the Mavericks.
After being sidelined for his first week with the Lakers because of a strained left calf he suffered Dec. 25 while playing for the Mavericks, Doncic made his debut for the Lakers in a Feb. 10 home win over the Utah Jazz. He averaged 28.2 points, 8.1 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.6 steals in 28 regular-season games with the Lakers before the team was eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves in a quick five games.
Doncic’s contract extension with the Lakers solidifies him as the face of the franchise. Already every move they made this summer has been designed to play to Doncic’s offensive strengths – elite shot-making and the best passing in LA since Magic Johnson was hooping it up – while masking his many weaknesses on defense.
They have made offseason roster upgrades with the additions of former number one overall pick center Deandre Ayton, a perfect fit for Luka’s lobs and a rim protector to boot; and former Defensive Player of the Year Marcus Smart, who will cover up a lot of Luka’s defensive mistakes.
Doncic has been heavily involved in the Lakers’ roster moves, helping recruit Ayton and Smart to the franchise after offseason buyouts with their previous teams. Smart said he was personally recruited by Luka to play for the Lakers, which was a good indicator that Luka was staying in LA. Why else would he work so hard to get Smart to come here?
In fact, everything Luka has said about his brief Lakers experience suggests that he plans to be with the franchise for the long haul. But at the very least the Lakers will have him until his age 30 season.
When asked during an interview that was recorded during the season and released in July what he hopes to be known for in Los Angeles, Doncic responded: “The guy who brought championships to the city, for sure.”
And the Lakers are expecting Doncic, who has been showing off an improved physique this summer, to be around for a while. The word from across the pond is that Luka has spent the summer getting into the best shape of his life, dropping from 260 pounds to 230 pounds – meaning he lost more than 10 % of his body weight. He was responding to Coach JJ Redick’s post-season comment that the first thing the Lakers needed to do for next season was to get in better shape. And since Luka was the only Laker who looked out of shape, he didn’t need to single Luka out. The media did it for him.
Three months later voila: there on the cover of the newest Men’s Health magazine is a slimmed-down Luka looking jacked, ripped and ready to roar at all the critics who said the Mavericks traded him because he is a fat, lazy drunk who cares more about partying than winning championships.
It won’t be long now before we can see the new Luka in action. The Lakers first pre-season game is less than eight weeks away – October 3 against the Phoenix Suns.
The Lakers may not win the NBA title this year, but it’s shaping up as a must-see season. With Jeanne Buss out of the way and LeBron out of town, the Lake Show is back.
contact: teetor.paul@gmail.com. ER
