I do not want to get too political here, but I will say that people's desire to live in LA is often based on how they align politically. If you are a through and through Texan, you likely won't like living in LA. Luka considers himself a Texan. He was loved in Dallas, he had billboards and banners in their airport. A lot of my friends who are in the process of leaving LA or have left LA consider Dallas to be at the very top of their list. These are people from a range of tax brackets, money can make living in LA easier, but I have never felt this uncomfortable enjoying anything nice here, and that includes the nicest areas in the city. The absolute nicest neighborhood was burned down. The area around the arena is actually so bad, as someone who has traveled internationally a lot and lived in every corner of the country, I would say DTLA is one of the worst places in the entire world. It was on a come up from when they built the arena (~2000-2019) up until COVID, they have been in freefall since. They have only 6 cop cars for all of DTLA, and 2 of them just sit outside of an abandoned building to monitor graffiti vandals. I have had a property in DTLA for years, and I am currently unable to insure any watches I own at that address, the zip code is on a freeze with insurers, many of my family members had their fire insurance completely cancelled. Even the nicest neighborhoods in LA are not very safe anymore, Santa Monica has declined tremendously the past 6 years, they are building a metro line through BH which is going to make it a lot less safe. They have government funded golf carts that go around handing out clean needles for the drug addicts in DTLA, you truly have to see this stuff to believe it. The amount of homeless on meth is unreal, they tend to start fires (50% of the fires are started by homeless here). One thing i don't think many outsiders realize, is that the quality of attractive women here has gone down along with the city. Dallas has a better pool. It is like all of the attractive women moved to Scottsdale, Dallas, South Florida. Living in LA and in OC as long as I have, through work and personal connections I am connected to a second degree to a handful of current NBA players and one GM (a very relevant one in this case) and one agent for a top 10 player (first degree), I can not speak to what Luka is feeling, but keep in mind there is a reason Kawhi lives in San Diego and would commute via the same helicopter pilot as Kobe and didn't want to be in LA. Kobe lived in Newport for a reason as well. You can't really breathe here if you are famous, not everyone likes that feeling. There are worse places you can be traded, but creating the feeling of home regardless of how much money you have is going to vary for each individual. Unlimited money here can not buy you the privacy you would get in a Dallas suburb. (Bezos had to buy an adjacent home for $20M just to get some privacy from his $100M home). In today's NBA any decent city and chance to win is most important, this is why AD declined an $8M trade kicker to Dallas. Ultimately the Lakers being able to build a competitive roster is what will determine if Luka demands out. Dwight Howard left to Houston for that reason.
I don't think you can compare to a John Doe's life. He plays half a year in LA and can live wherever he wants the rest of the time. You learn to become a pragmatic star. Athletes, actors, jet setters, millionaires,billionaires, those are the people I don't really think about when there is news that they moved.
Luka is not a Texan he is a Slovenian and is used to living internationally away from home. LAL gives him the most exposure, the most endorsements and the most marketing/clout. Lebron came to the Lakers even if they sucked, that tells you all you need to know. Luka has so much money if he misses Texas he can still live in his 15M mansion in Dallas and take a flight to LA every game.
Sure, but whether he knew or didnt know its irrelevant since he isn't the one controlling this trade. Even if he wanted AD shipped out for Luka Mavs still the one who proposed this trade and went thru with it.
No, it's all scripted by the script masters. LeBron can't wait for Cooper Flagg to be gifted to him to extend his career (as I said before) and Dallas has struggled this year. They (NBA) just decided to combine Luka with LeBron instead....or maybe it was always the plan. *LeBron and AD are represented by KlutchSports and LeBron wasn't notified? Sure *Dallas only dealt with Lakers. Why not get a bidding war going and state Luka is available? *Lakers had more to take from.... another 1st or players like Dalton Knecht or Austin Reaves. *LeBron acted upset. Doesn't want to appear as GM orchestrating moves. *Every other team would've had to give up often injured AD and 2 or 3 first rd picks. *Lakers were able to make additional moves. *Luka age 25 extends LeBrons career.....get more chances to catch MJ in rings. *Luka carry bum @#$ Bronny.
I wouldn't be surprised if you're right. I also wouldn't be surprised if he and LeBron begin clashing immediately. They just paired a guy who drinks beers after games and gains weight during the season with a guy who is more dedicated to taking care of his body than anybody in NBA history. If you think Nico Harrison was disdainful of Luka's work habits, wait until LeBron sees it. The upside for the Lakers would be if LeBron is the one guy who can break through to Luka and get him to start taking his fitness seriously. That'll be super dangerous for the league. A fit Luka is an all-time great.
Maybe Luka will decide that he doesn't want the fires and riots of LA. We'll see if he signs an extension this offseason.
In addition to Dwight, the Rockets also got a prime Trevor Ariza from the Lakers as well. I also think CP3 had to have been traded after giving the thumbs up. Those are 3 relevant players in their prime right there (CP3 still made an additional $240M and got a big contract after coming here and has played another 8 seasons, so I consider it to still be late prime).
