Inside Luka Dončić’s U.S. tour

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LOS ANGELES — The sun had set on Sunday night and a very tired Luka Dončić was thinking about getting on a plane and flying home.

Eight days earlier, he’d flown from Slovenia to New York City for a three-city U.S. tour that ended here, on an L.A. rooftop in the city where he just committed to spend his prime. That part, the timing of this all, was a bit of a happy accident. The New York-to-Chicago-to-Los Angeles tour actually had been scheduled before the Dallas Mavericks decided to trade him to the Los Angeles Lakers.

So Sunday night, here he was, on the last stop on the tour, judging a dunk contest and watching one-on-one battles as part of “The One,” Jordan Brand’s global tournament. After a week full of interviews, appearances and commercial shoots, this was all that was standing between him and the peacefulness of a 13-hour flight to Ljubljana, Slovenia.

“Exhausted,” he said of his current state.

But then he heard it — one of the players, Kaiden Bailey, scream “He can’t f—ing guard me” to the crowd and his opponent after a bucket — and a jolt of energy shot through Dončić. A diabolical grin parked on his face as the fans erupted.

Dončić, more than anyone on that rooftop, could relate.

It was another moment that solidified that Dončić was right where he was supposed to be — with a new team in a new city with a new opportunity. He formalized all of that Saturday, signing a three-year contract extension with the Lakers on the first day they were able to offer it to him.

He signed that deal, presented to him in custom purple-and-black folders with his name and the Lakers’ logo in opposite corners, with a phrase his management team had chosen on a video screen behind him — “The Beginning.”

Messaging, as much as anything, was a goal for Dončić over the past week. His reputation was bruised after Dallas traded him to Los Angeles in February. His professional footing had been totally undone, plans of someday retiring with the Mavericks voided with a single phone call.

After the Lakers were eliminated in the first round against Minnesota, Dončić said he was “mentally kind of exhausted from everything that happened.” But that wasn’t the version of him that returned to the U.S. for this tour.

Lara Beth Seager, Dončić’s manager, said he’s no longer carrying any baggage from his exit from Dallas.

“He’s moved on,” she told The Athletic.

Dončić underwent a physical transformation this offseason, fasting 16 hours a day and adhering to strict diet and workout plans. He detailed the plans in a cover story for Men’s Health Magazine that served as the tone-setter for his trip. He spoke about the changes during a New York Yankees broadcast and in an appearance on “The Today Show.”

While in New York, Dončić and his team dined at Cecconi’s and The Corner Store. He also taped an episode of “Hot Ones” and visited the Statue of Liberty for the first time. At the Yankees game, Dončić met with new Lakers owner Mark Walter for the first time. Dončić also surprised league employees by visiting the NBA’s New York headquarters.

After a quick stop in Chicago, Dončić was on to Los Angeles with the Lakers’ extension offer waiting for him — with little drama ever looming about the Lakers’ ability to get him to commit.

“I think it was always known that, when Luka was traded here, it’s, ‘He’s here now,’” Seager said. “He wants to win where he is, and it’s important that he wins and that we’re working together with the team so we’re not waiting. His mindset has never been to hop around. His mindset is to win championships.

“His mindset is to build where he is and to work together. And as long as he’s signed with a team, it’s a marriage and you treat it like a marriage. And marriages have hard times and good times, but you’re loyal and you’re faithful to each other through it all. And that’s just who Luka is. I don’t think he ever thought. ‘I’m not signing my extension.’”

Saturday, Dončić arrived at the team’s facility before 7 a.m, for a workout prior to signing the extension. Unaware that Seager and the Lakers had planned a surprise trip to Las Vegas later that night to see the Backstreet Boys at The Sphere, Dončić blared the boy band’s music throughout the Lakers’ facility — another sign that the organization and its star were, um, in sync.

After the workout, he met with members of his team before officially signing the deal. Dončić announced the transaction himself on his social media accounts while pledging $5 million in grants (and mentorship) to 77 young athletes in need.

When the Lakers opened their doors for the celebratory news conference a few hours later, reporters were met by a custom-built photo wall with moments from Dončić’s draft night, national team and brief time with the Lakers.

He continued his work to connect with the Lakers’ fan base. Dončić had previously donated money toward wildfire relief and to restore a Kobe Bryant mural. Saturday, he deliberately opened his news conference by addressing Lakers fans in Spanish.

“And that’s it,” he joked. “No English.”

After the news conference, Dončić found out about the plans to attend the Backstreet Boys concert and that he’d be joined by not just his family and friends, but by teammates and members of the organization including Jeanie Buss and Walter. Buss, who usually prefers a low profile at press conferences, sat in the back of the media seats to watch Dončić and general manager Rob Pelinka answer questions about the deal.

She later joined Dončić in Las Vegas with Walter, head coach JJ Redick and a number of teammates to celebrate his new beginning.

“He’s only looking forward. And he’s here. He wants to get the best players here. He wants to win, and he knows it starts with him,” Seager said. “And I think that’s what he proved this offseason. ‘OK, everyone wants to say or people think that they know me or I’m not a leader or I’m this way, or I’m that way, I don’t care. They can think and say whatever they want.

“I’m gonna show them who I am.’”

And whether it was meeting privately with Walter in New York or with morning TV viewers on “The Today Show,” whether it was signing sneakers at the NBA Store, hitting trick shots at Dyckman Park in Manhattan or grinning at the trash talk in Los Angeles, Dončić was more like himself than he was when he last was in the states.

Since the Lakers were eliminated, Dončić has deprived himself, trimming his diet of more than sugary foods. He’s also refrained from any real live basketball. Late Sunday, he boarded a plane to join the Slovenian national basketball team as they begin a tune-up schedule ahead of the 2025 FIBA EuroBasket championships which begin later this month.

The first scrimmage he has with the team will be his first live five-on-five action since the Lakers were bounced.

“I miss basketball,” he told Seager on their way to dinner at Carbone in Las Vegas.

From the grin he had on his face Sunday on that roof, a smile that fought through all the fatigue from the jam-packed promotional tour and an impromptu Vegas celebration, it was obvious that he can’t wait to get back on the court.

And for the next three years — and maybe more — the court that he’ll call home will be in Los Angeles with the Lakers.

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Dan Woike covers the Los Angeles Lakers for The Athletic. He’s written about professional basketball in Los Angeles since 2011, first for the Orange County Register and most recently for the Los Angeles Times. His work has been recognized by the Associated Press Sports Editors, the Pro Basketball Writers Association, the Los Angeles Press Club and the California News Publishers Association. He’s originally from Chicago. Follow Dan on X: @DanWoikeSports