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When the Los Angeles Lakers made the shocking blockbuster trade to acquire Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in February, many wondered if the Slovenian superstar was going to be happy moving from Dallas to L.A. By all accounts, Doncic was remarkably content in Texas and had planned to be there for the long-term. But it didn\u2019t take long for Luka to get acclimated to sunny Southern California. <\/p>\n
Now, the Lakers are off to an incredible start to Doncic\u2019s first full season. They are 12-4 through 16 games, good enough for second place in the Western Conference. But the Lakers have spent plenty of time recently away from L.A. Six of the Lakers\u2019 last seven games have been on the road, dating back to Nov. 8 in Atlanta. But now, after a win against the Utah Jazz<\/a> on Sunday night, the Lakers are returning home where they\u2019ll play their next four games until Dec. 1. <\/p>\n And perhaps no one is more excited about that than Doncic. The Lakers star spoke immediately after the Jazz win on Sunday, saying that he is ready to return home to L.A., via Spectrum SportsNet<\/a>: <\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t wait. Being home is great. I can go on the beach a lot, get some sun. Just playing in front of the home crowd is gonna be amazing, can\u2019t wait for that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Lakers play on Tuesday night against the L.A. Clippers, then get to spend the Thanksgiving holiday at home before their next action on Friday night against Luka\u2019s former Mavericks. The Lakers then play the New Orleans Pelicans and Phoenix Suns to round out the home stand before heading East for a three-game trip. <\/p>\n But the biggest story is that Doncic appears extremely happy to be in L.A. as a member of the Lakers. It took less than a year to get acclimated enough to call Los Angeles his home that he\u2019s excited to get back to. And with three years under contract, Luka\u2019s future appears settled in purple and gold. <\/p>\n Luka Doncic needed to play heavy minutes to help the Lakers eek out a win over the Jazz, but he had some of his unheralded teammates step up in the clutch.<\/p>\n Deandre Ayton was ruled out for the second half of the game, forcing head coach JJ Redick to start Jaxson Hayes in his place. However, Redick also decided to dust off Maxi Kleber who has played sparingly since being cleared to return.<\/p>\n Kleber missed most of the second half of the 2024-25 season and playoffs due to a foot injury, so he has been trying hard to get his basketball rhythm back. He came over to the Lakers with Doncic in the February mega-trade.<\/p>\n After the win over Utah, Doncic praised Kleber<\/a> for his performance.<\/p>\n\n
Luka Doncic praises Maxi Kleber for performance vs. Jazz<\/h2>\n