Luol Deng recently opened up about his difficult time with the Los Angeles Lakers during an interview on the “Knuckleheads” podcast, shedding light on the frustration and disappointment he faced.
“It came with a lot of heat, a lot of pressure, and unnecessary things uncalled for. But, you know, to think back, like you said, playing with the Heat—the Heat gave me an opportunity. I had one of my best playoffs. I was playing so well, and I remember I wanted to stay in Miami.”
“But Pat Riley kept it real, and Pat just said, ‘Yo, I can’t pay you that much money. You gotta take that money.’ And for me, that was so real. So I looked at it, and I’m like, you know what, I might never ever get this opportunity again.”
“But my conversation about going to LA was to go there to hoop. I had a mindset of, now I’m getting paid, I’m going to the lights and whatnot, and I wanted to make it happen. So I took the chance and took the money.”
“But I never knew exactly what their plan was, or that the plan was not what I was told, and that kind of changed how I looked at the league, my love for the game, and so on. And I really mean it. I was getting all this money, but it didn’t feel right; it didn’t feel the same.”
“And what I mean by that is, I wanted to play, I wanted to be a part of the team, I wanted to make a change. But I was told, ‘We’re going in a different direction,’ and I wasn’t dressing up and whatnot.”
“I always tell people there was a lot of conversation where, one month into it, it’s like, ‘Yo, we’re only gonna play the young guys.'”
“A month into it, it’s like, ‘Yo, we need you to get in shape, practice,’ and so on. And I would get in shape, practice, and then it would be a sit-down, and they’d be like, ‘Oh, actually, we decided we’re going to play the young guys.’ And it just kept going. So two years in, by the second year, I was like, you know what, I never want to play here.”
“I remember it was just like, ‘Yo, you’re gonna play, you’re not gonna play, you’re gonna play,’ and my agent was trying, but they gave me so much money, and now they’re not playing me. Why would anyone else take that contract? You gotta let me play for people to see, but I was never allowed to play.” (1:05:12)
Deng, a two-time All-Star with the Chicago Bulls, signed a substantial four-year, $72 million contract with the Lakers in the 2016 offseason, a move that was meant to bring veteran experience to a young Lakers roster. However, things did not go as planned, and the experience turned out to be vastly different from what Deng had envisioned.
Upon joining the Lakers, Deng hoped to contribute meaningfully and mentor the younger players on the team. However, he quickly realized that the franchise’s plans did not align with his expectations. Early into the 2016-17 season, the Lakers made it clear that they intended to prioritize their young core, including players like Brandon Ingram, Julius Randle, and D’Angelo Russell, leaving little room for a veteran presence like Deng.
Deng appeared in just 57 games over two seasons with the Lakers, with his final statistics reflecting his limited opportunities: he averaged 7.5 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 1.3 assists per game.
His last appearance came on the opening night of the 2017-18 season, where he started as a substitute for the suspended Kentavious Caldwell-Pope. That game turned out to be his only appearance of the entire season, with head coach Luke Walton and Deng mutually deciding that it was better for him to stay in the locker room than play minimal, meaningless minutes.
In September 2018, the Lakers waived Deng via a stretch provision, ultimately clearing salary cap space for future free-agent pursuits. Despite being the highest-paid player on the team for each of his two seasons, he never had the chance to fulfill his role on the court or show other teams he could still contribute. Deng’s time with the Lakers left him disillusioned, changing his outlook on the NBA and his own career.
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