Luka Doncic’s highly anticipated Los Angeles Lakers’ debut is set to begin tonight at 10:30 PST against the Utah Jazz. It will be shown on ESPN for what is expected to be, perhaps, the most-watched regular season game of the season. The Slovenian superstar will combine forces with arguably the greatest player of all time, Lebron James, to put on a dazzling display of total humiliation against the lowly Jazz. Anyone with the most basic TV packages will be able to watch total dominance at play in real time.
A true contest of David vs. Goliath where, for one night, everyone around the globe, perhaps even in Salt Lake City, will be a Laker fan for at least one night. The biggest brand in the game and the biggest sports market in the world just got bigger. The rich and famous will be at courtside in the Crypto.com arena to witness this historic debut in person.
Private jets are certain to carry hungover Hollywood stars fresh off the Super Bowl LIX afterparties in the French Quarter of New Orleans. They’ll be traveling to attend the second-most important sporting event of the year. Everyone who is anyone will be there, and the rest of us, even on the East Coast, are more than happy to stay up on a school night to watch the beginning of the new Laker dynasty.
The flipside of this historic and “seismic” trade, as Rob Pelinka (are we sure that isn’t Rob Lowe?…) put it, was the Mavericks debut of former Lakers star player Anthony Davis. The Mavericks were playing at home in the American Airlines Center on a Saturday afternoon against the Conference rival, Houston Rockets. Normally, a game with possible playoff implications between two state rivals would garner national attention.
It wasn’t until after the game, though, that AD and the Mavs were found in major sports news outlets’ headlines. Davis contributed a performance that proved to be historic. Helping the Mavs with 26 points, 16 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 blocks in a 116-105 win. Those totals marked the first time in 40 seasons that a player totaled 25-plus points, 15-plus rebounds, and 5-plus assists in their first game with a new team. The game was broadcast locally and could be streamed on MavsTV, as well as Space City Home Network (SCHN) from Houston.
On-site, outside of the arena in Dallas, was a sizeable group of Dallas residents who were carrying what appeared to be picket signs. These were not disgruntled union members advocating for their contracts or working conditions. They were Dallas Mavericks fans who were furious at the fact that it could ever be implied they “came out on top” of a terribly lopsided trade.
They were fleeced. So far, however, this group of loyal Mavericks fans seems to be the only demographic willing to express their strong thoughts of outrage and opposition to the situation. The Mavs’ win did little to ease their pain, as it was reported after the game that Davis has a left adductor strain that will have him sidelined for multiple weeks.
It is timely that this trade would occur almost immediately after ESPN’s parent company, Disney, publicly stated that it is looking to its sports division to continue building on its positive quarterly earnings. To help lead the company toward its projections, ESPN is turning to the NBA. They are anticipating a 13% bump in operating income for the sports division during the current fiscal year.
Luka Doncic’s Laker debut against a hapless Utah Jazz team will certainly help ESPN meet and exceed its projections. The game is looking to be an affair, much like the Harlem Globetrotters against the Washington Generals. A flawless display of offensive skills served up to overwhelm, if not embarrassing, the inferior opposition. All to the entertainment and delight of the rich and famous in attendance and awe-inspired fans watching and streaming around the world.
ESPN and the NBA finally recognized and embraced the fact that its greatest, most marketable stars are actually not American or born in the USA. By moving Doncic to LA, they are doing what the Dodgers did in signing Shoehei Ohtani.
Going back much further, another example would be what the NHL did by moving Wayne Gretzky from Edmonton to LA. They are expanding the world’s biggest sports market and making it even bigger. Sports have taken over Hollywood. Eventually, it is where all of the best stars will end up.
Let’s not pretend for a minute, though, that the Dallas Mavericks were simply tired of Luka Doncic’s conditioning. They shipped him to L.A. in order to help boost the declining NBA ratings. With that said, it’s hard to protest against the movement of the tide and to turn away. Who is not going to tune in tonight to watch Doncic suit up alongside Lebron in a Los Angeles Lakers uniform? As far as basketball fans worldwide are concerned, the guess would be not very many at all.
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