The Los Angeles Lakers just got bounced in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs. As it turns out, having Luka Doncic and LeBron James was not enough for the Lakers to get past the Timberwolves. Now, nobody will argue that Luka is not among the best players in the league. However, the slew of changes after his arrival may have been to the Lakers’ detriment tonight, and ended their season. At least, that’s how some of his teammates feel, even if like the fans, nobody is pointing fingers at the player himself.

If there’s anything you can take away from this series, it’s that the Lakers didn’t play well as a team. And many of the players believe this is down to the fact that the Lakers had to overhaul the way they played to accommodate Luka. “The whole dynamic changed when we made the acquisition of Luka. ‘How can we change our approach to best fit his game? And how can we center our game around his?’ And I think it’s always challenging when you make a, like I said, a big acquisition like that,” said LeBron James about how things changed when the team acquired Luka.

JJ Redick spoke to this as well, lamenting the fact that he had little time to tinker and perfect the Lakers’ starters and playing style during the regular season. “I mean, we played 13 games with our playoff rotation in the regular season. Bron and Luka obviously played more than that together, but these things take time,” said the Lakers’ head coach. And those issues were obvious tonight. The Lakers looked hesitant, even though they ran their offense through Luka. It was clear that their belief in each other was lacking. In stark contrast, their opponents came together as a team even when none of their players, except Rudy Gobert, were having great games individually.

But Lakers guard Austin Reaves thinks there’s a way to fix all this.  “Just continuing to grow together,” he said, offering a simple remedy to the Lakers’ woes. AR then elaborated, “Obviously, they’re unbelievable basketball players and, the more time you spend, not with just them, but the whole unit, you’re just gonna become more cohesive, more together, know exactly what you’re gonna do every possession when things get tough, when you’re rolling, how you wanna play the game.”

And this was exactly what the Lakers were missing tonight. They didn’t have anything to fall back on when things got desperate. And as a result, the players looked lost while playing with the same teammates they’ve been playing with since the trade deadline ended. Nonetheless, it will take time for the Lakers to adapt to life with Luka Doncic in LA. But it’s not just the Lakers’ dynamic that has changed.

Dorian Finney-Smith, who was briefly Luka Doncic’s teammate in Dallas, revealed that Luka himself has changed as well. He revealed the exact differences between the current Luka and the one he knew.

Dorian Finney-Smith reveals major shift in Luka Doncic’s personality

Luka Doncic has always been one to do his talking on the court. Now, he may clap back at an odd fan here or make jokes with a ref there. But for the most part, Luka remains a little reserved. However, DFS thinks Luka has grown in this regard since the time they were teammates in Dallas.

“You just hear him talking a lot more. You know, the second time around, he definitely a better communicator than what he was when we was in Dallas,” revealed Dorian. But he also sees another aspect of Luka that has grown since their time together in Dallas. “He for sure a bigger star than what he was when I was with him three years ago,” said DoeDoe.

After Finney-Smith left, Luka went through a lot with the Mavs. He dealt with niggling injuries, carried them to the Finals, then lost to the Boston Celtics in 5 games. Eventually, Luka was blindsided by his team, which traded him to the Lakers. After having gone through all that, it’s no wonder Luka Doncic has grown as a person.  As for his star power? It was apparent from his rookie year that Luka Doncic was going to be a star in the NBA. And carrying the Dallas Mavericks to an NBA final only furthered that notion.

Nonetheless, there’s a lot more change coming in the coming weeks and months. And that goes for both Luka and the Lakers as a team. This offseason, there’s not going to be any hookahs or beers in store for Doncic. Instead, it’s back to the drawing board with JJ Redick as they try to figure out the best way forward for the Lakers. Given how smart these two are when it comes to the game, we’re convinced they can pull it off!