The Los Angeles Lakers will have 34 nationally televised games in 2026-27, tied for the league lead with the Knicks, Spurs and 76ers. Even without LeBron James, the Purple and Gold are still a marquee team in the league. So the expectation that Luka Doncic will lead to another championship remains the same.

Kendrick Perkins, a former NBA champion, said that the $12.5 billion change in ownership from Mark Walter to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger doesn’t change the outlook that Lakers fans have on the basketball court. Perkins also hailed Doncic as one of the best offensive stars before making a bold prediction.

“Well, I think they’re going to have one of the best offensive teams in the league,” said the ESPN analyst on NBA Today. “They still have one of the best offensive players in Luka Doncic. They got enough offensive firepower to win games in a regular season. It’s only four teams in the Western Conference that I feel like are better than them on paper. The Nuggets, Spurs, OKC, and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Outside of that, they are right in the middle of the pack.

“But here’s the thing, and Tim, you know this: the middle of the pack doesn’t mean nothing to the Lakers fan base. I don’t give a damn if it was Jesus Christ owning the Lakers; it would still be the same standard, meaning that anything short of a championship is a bust. And so now you start this new era, the official era of Luka Doncic has officially started, and now he’s on the clock, because the Laker fan base—they’re spoiled. They’re built on championships.”

Perkins’ assessment has truth in it. Decade after decade, era after era, from one legend to the next, fans are accustomed to high expectations for winning. That is why even LeBron James’s tenure, which only led to one championship in eight years, is not viewed fondly.

After Bron’s exit, the Lakers wasted no time enforcing the team’s fit according to Luka Doncic. The Slovenian desired to have Austin Reaves as his backcourt partner, so the team re-signed him to a four-year, $185 million extension.

Plus, the team also pretty much emptied their trade assets to pair Doncic with an A-list center in Walker Kessler. Los Angeles also added Matisse Thybulle, Quentin Grimes, Kevon Looney, Collin Sexton, Jaden Hardy, Ziaire Williams and Sandro Mamukelashvili.

The retooling is done, and the front office has more than enough reason to believe the franchise is serious about building a contender. Since Luka Doncic is the face of the franchise, Perkins believes the pressure will be directly on the Slovenian’s shoulders to deliver them gold sooner rather than later.