Teams usually discuss jersey retirements after a player has already carved his name into a franchise’s history. However, the critics have placed Luka in that conversation before his Lakers story has even reached its defining chapter. NBA writer Jason Jones has made a bold prediction about the Slovenian superstar eventually seeing his number raised in LA.
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A prediction that sounds premature, considering how little of his Lakers legacy has actually been written. The idea becomes even more striking when viewed against the recent Chris Paul controversy. After the Clippers indicated that Bradley Beal will wear CP3’s iconic No. 3 again, the episode became a reminder that even franchise legends can find their relationship with an organization complicated by what happens after their playing days.
Paul spent six seasons as the face of the Clippers franchise, guiding the team through the “Lob City” era and into the playoffs in each of those six years. He earned six All-Star selections in a Clippers uniform. Yet for all of that, his number does not hang in the Clippers’ rafters. Longevity and loyalty, it turns out, are not automatically rewarded.
Against that backdrop, Jones, writing for The Athletic, offered his own projection on the stars he believes could eventually receive the ultimate franchise honor. His take on Luka Doncic stood out.
“It’s still wild to believe Dončić was traded. He’ll be forever beloved in Dallas and has a chance to create a new legacy with the Lakers as the superstar to carry the franchise forward after LeBron,” Jones wrote.
That last part is where the prediction becomes particularly interesting. Jones was not merely suggesting that LukaMagic could become another beloved Laker. He was envisioning a future in which the 27-year-old becomes important enough to the franchise that his jersey eventually belongs alongside the numbers of its most celebrated legends.
There is already little doubt about Luka Doncic’s standing in Dallas. He spent more than six seasons with the Mavs. He ultimately became the centerpiece of their offense and led them to the 2024 NBA Finals. And it all came crashing down at the 2025 trade deadline when they traded him to LA.
His Dallas resume makes a strong case for the Mavs eventually retiring his No. 77 jersey. The most natural measuring stick is Dirk Nowitzki, whose No. 41 the Mavericks retired in 2022 after a 21-season career defined by one championship in 2011. Luka played fewer seasons in Dallas, but his statistical footprint was arguably larger. The crucial difference is that Dirk never left. He committed entirely to one city and delivered a title. Luka’s Dallas chapter ended without one, capped by a 4-1 defeat to the Boston Celtics in the 2024 Finals.
It also raises a question that rarely gets asked: could Doncic eventually have his number retired by both franchises? It has happened before. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar had his No. 33 retired separately by the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Lakers – the same number, honored by two organizations that each held a legitimate claim to his legacy. Luka would need to build something worthy in LA for that conversation to even begin. But the precedent exists.
LA is a different proposition.
The Lakers have retired 14 numbers belonging to 13 players, including Kobe Bryant twice. And the list is filled with players whose careers became deeply intertwined with the franchise’s identity. Mamba won 5 rings in LA. Meanwhile Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Shaquille O’Neal, and other legends established extraordinary resumes in purple and gold.
What makes those retirements meaningful is not just longevity, it is timing. When Magic Johnson was 27 during the 1986-87 season, he had already won three championships and was in the midst of an NBA MVP campaign, averaging 23.9 points and 12.2 assists per game. Kobe Bryant at 27, in the 2005-06 season, was leading the league with 35.4 points per game, also already a three-time champion.
Even Shaquille O’Neal joined the Lakers at 24 and had his first ring by 28. The players whose numbers hang in the rafters were building championship equity young. Doncic, at 27, is still writing the opening lines of his purple and gold story.
Luka Doncic has none of that Lakers history yet. That makes Jones’ projection less a description of what has happened. And more a statement about what he believes could happen.
Can Luka Doncic clear the Post-LeBron Litmus Test?
Now comes the part that will determine whether that vision ever becomes realistic.
The 2026-27 season will be Luka Doncic’s first full campaign as the unquestioned centerpiece of the Lakers following LeBron James’ departure. LA has not simply handed him the keys and walked away, though.
The front office has reshaped the roster around him, retaining Austin Reaves on a four-year, $185 million deal and acquiring Walker Kessler on a four-year, $130 million contract.
Without a doubt, this trio forms the Lakers’ new core. And that makes the upcoming season a genuine test of the new direction.
Luka Doncic enters it after leading the NBA in scoring at 33.5 ppg in 2025-26 while earning All-NBA First Team honors. The Lakers still finished 53-29, but their playoff run ended in a second-round sweep by OKC, with Doncic sidelined for the entire postseason due to a hamstring injury.
The challenge now is different. There is no LeBron-sized safety net beside him.
LA has surrounded Doncic with younger pieces, including Reaves and Kessler, while adding Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili and others to reshape the supporting cast.
The Lakers are clearly trying to construct a team that complements Doncic’s playmaking rather than simply extending the previous era.
But a jersey retirement requires more than statistical dominance.
If Luka Doncic can turn this new-look roster into a sustained contender and eventually deliver another championship to LA, the conversation would change dramatically. For now, Jones’ prediction remains exactly that.
And that is precisely what makes the take so bold. The next few seasons will decide whether Doncic merely inherits the Lakers after LeBron, or actually builds something worthy of the rafters.