The Los Angeles Lakers picked up one of their best wins of the year with a 126-99 dismantling of the OKC Thunder. The Lakers completely overpowered OKC on both ends of the court, with Luka Doncic leading the Lakers with an efficient and admirable performance. Doncic had been on a slump over recent games, which he emphatically broke out of tonight.
Doncic’s performance was inspired by the success of his boyhood club, Real Madrid, in Spain. He tried making a reference to them in his postgame interview after the Thunder’s win, but it just led to a massively awkward moment instead.
“The whole team was inspired because Real Madrid won El Clasico in basketball today. No, I’m kidding, that was just me.”
Luka Dončić: "Whole team was inspired because Real Madrid won El Clasico basketball today." 🤣🤣 pic.twitter.com/ePf7iBmF7a
— Luka Updates (@LukaUpdates) April 6, 2025
What’s made this clip awkward is the complete lack of response from the interviewer, who likely didn’t even understand what Doncic said at that moment.
This likely would’ve at least gotten a reaction from journalists in Dallas, given they were intimately familiar with Real Madrid due to Doncic’s past and because they’ve even had a preseason match in 2023, which Madrid won.
Madrid defeated their rivals FC Barcelona 96-91 in the EuroLeague, but that was last month. It’s odd for Luka to have brought this up right now, as the soccer teams haven’t faced each other recently either.
Doncic, who’s a product of the Real Madrid youth system, is still a massive fan of ‘Los Blancos.’ He might be playing basketball in the NBA now, but he’ll always have a soft spot for Madrid.
Luka Doncic Working Through The Awkwardness To Settle Into The Lakers Locker Room
The Los Angeles Lakers are currently using a roster that was essentially put together in February, given how profound the impact of Luka Doncic’s acquisition has been. He’s changing the way the team plays on the court while the team went through the most packed stretch of the season.
Doncic recently revealed that the atmosphere in the locker room is high, but they’re still building chemistry as a unit. The squad hasn’t even gotten the chance to go for a team dinner since the trade due to their heavy schedule.
“Well, we didn’t even do dinner yet. We had so many games, so we didn’t have time for that. But, off the court, it’s great. Everybody was joking in the locker room. Then, when we need to lock in, we lock in. So the chemistry is at great point right now.”
“A little bit. We talk as a group mostly. But we just got to go game by game, and that’s what I always say. You can’t look forward. We got to go game by game. Every game is a different challenge, so we just got to go game by game.”
You can’t win a title without chemistry, and it seems like the Lakers are trying to patch that on the fly. But recent wins over the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the West show that they’re still competing at the highest level.
Doncic is averaging 27.3 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 7.7 assists on the Lakers, so his gradual increase in production is making them a far more lethal team. With LeBron James embracing greater defensive responsibilities to let Doncic cook the offense with Austin Reaves, it seems the Lakers have a great system in place already.
There are clear roster holes the team will address in the summer, but right now, they’ll feel confident about this squad making a huge impact in the 2025 Playoffs.
