Luka Doncic spoke after the Los Angeles Lakers‘ 119-131 loss to the Utah Jazz. When talking about the rescinded Dalton Knecht trade recently going down, he shared his sympathy over Knecht being traded but did acknowledge that this is how things go in the NBA. Doncic also addressed some other topics, such as playing under JJ Redick, how far the Lakers can go, and what went wrong against the Jazz.
Reporter: “Can you relate to Dalton Knecht with the trade coming out of nowhere? With him going, and then him coming back and how did you try to welcome him back to the team?”
Luka Doncic: “It’s obviously different. I didn’t expect it, other people probably didn’t expect it. For him, it’s tough. You get traded, and you come back. At the end of the day, this is our team, this is the team we have. We can do everything.”
On the subject of playing under JJ Redick, he noted how excited he was to play under him. Doncic was surprised that one of his former teammates was such a natural coach despite being in his first year.
Reporter: “What have you seen from JJ Redick as a coach? Obviously, you were teammates with him before, not for a ton of time, but for a couple of games. What have you seen?”
Doncic: “He’s a great coach. I know it’s only his first year but it doesn’t feel like it. Feels like he’s been here for 15 years. So, props to him, and I can’t wait to be coached more by him.”
Luka also shares his thoughts about the Lakers’ loss against the Jazz.
Reporter: “JJ mentioned that it can be tricky blowing a team out and then coming back and playing them again. Utah really responded. How do you take that in stride and as you enter the All-Star break, where do you think this team can go?”
Doncic: “I think we can go very far. Today, I felt a little bit rusty, just two games after my injury. Turnovers and missed free throws, we gotta do way better. I think approaching this break, we get to rest. For me, it’s more mental rest than anything else. But I still gotta work. I can’t wait to go back to playing.”
Reporter: “What are your plans for the All-Star break and how are you going to spend the next six days?”
Doncic: “Just a mental break for me. Work out, and just try to spend time with my family.”
Reporter: “How has your calf come out the last couple of games after being out for six weeks?”
Doncic: “It’s good, just getting back in rhythm. You can’t really practice the five-on-five stuff. It’s way different in games. I’m just happy to be back out there and I’m trying to win and play games.”
Reporter: “There aren’t going to be many nights when the team is flat. You mentioned missed free throws, that was everybody. How did you feel about the process and are you starting to see the ways that you guys can be pretty dynamic together?”
Doncic: “Yeah, I think we showed in the first game we played against them, we can move the ball. Everybody connected on both sides of the floor. Today wasn’t our best game so we have to work on that.”
Luka Doncic had a decent performance in his second game with the Lakers, putting up 16 points (6-13 FG), four rebounds, four assists, one steal, and one block. However, his five turnovers proved to be quite costly for the Lakers. Given that this was just his second game, not just with the Lakers, but also back from injury, the team will be willing to forgo his turnovers as he adapts to this new environment.
Doncic is going to get some much-needed rest, as he isn’t an All-Star this year for the first time since his rookie season. Over the next week, he can focus on his recovery, trying to get some reps in and working with the coaching staff to better understand the schematics and set plays so that he can quickly get comfortable with the team and their style of play.
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