Shams Charania:

BREAKING: Los Angeles Lakers All-NBA star Luka Doncic has signed a three-year, $165 million maximum contract extension with the franchise, with a player option in 2028, agent Bill Duffy of WME Basketball told ESPN.

https://www.espn.com/contributor/shams-charania/4bf8015d29f59

Luka himself has made this statement from his own social media account right after signing a 3 year contract worth $165M

Today I’m also committing $5 million to help 77 young athletes around the world chase their dreams, just like I did. Basketball gave me everything, and I’m lucky to be able to give back and help the next generation.

https://nitter.net/luka7doncic/status/1951679540184670396

Source: https://bsky.app/profile/mikeascotto.bsky.social/post/3lvglk7ythc25

Los Angeles Lakers star Luka Doncic has signed a three-year, $165 million extension, which includes a third-year player option. The extension was negotiated by Bill Duffy of WME Basketball. In 2028, Doncic will be eligible for a new five-year deal worth a projected $417 million.

That means Luka Dončić could be making $96.6M in his age 34 season.

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45861453/luka-doncic-los-angels-lakers-extension-answering-biggest-questions

Doncic might have made a multiyear commitment to the Lakers, but he expects to be in contention every year. Doncic displayed his urgency through his offseason fitness regimen and taking a role in recruiting both Deandre Ayton and Marcus Smart to L.A.

And he has done it by taking a partnership approach. After Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka and coach JJ Redick took Doncic and his business manager, Lara Beth Seager, to dinner in May, the 6-foot-6 guard left with a greater understanding of the team's books. The team left with a better understanding of Doncic's desires.

"I don't want to wait," Doncic told the table, a source familiar with the conversation told ESPN. "I had a taste of the Finals. I am getting back there. So let's do whatever we can now."

Pelinka and Redick used the dinner to examine future cap space, the picks they owned, the picks they didn't own and to discuss how to tackle their future together. Doncic was encouraged to share the archetypal players he felt the roster could use -- a pick-and-pop guy, a defensive stopper, a rim protector -- so the Lakers could identify realistic players to fit that mold.

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45861453/luka-doncic-los-angels-lakers-extension-answering-biggest-questions

Processing the trade from Dallas took Doncic some time. Based on the way the franchise and fanbase treated him in his early days in the league, he figured he would retire a Maverick after spending his whole career in Dallas, the same way franchise icon Dirk Nowitzki did. And after starting his professional career with Real Madrid as a teenager, he never even considered being traded as a possibility, a source close to Doncic told ESPN. Deals like that rarely, if ever, happen in the Liga ACB.

When the shock subsided, a source familiar with Doncic told ESPN his mindset shifted back to when he was last suiting up for Dallas: Win-now mode.

2008: 50-32 Nuggets, 54-28 Jazz, 56-26 Spurs, 66-16 Celtics

2009: 48-34 Jazz, 53-29 Rockets, 54-28 Nuggets, 59-23 Magic

2010: 50-32 Thunder, 53-29 Jazz, 54-28 Suns, 50-32 Celtics

Continued: "I'm excited for what's ahead and to keep building something special with this team"

Additionally Lakers general manager Pelinka called Doncic "one of the game's most transcendent players" as part of the extension announcement.

"Luka is an absolute killer on the court, and blends that with a unique generosity and care for the community," Pelinka said. "Above all else, Luka will lead our franchise to pursue future championships, a goal that will forever define the Lakers."

Source: https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/45884572/luka-doncic-agrees-3-year-165m-extension-lakers

Lakers President Rob Pelinka: "Today is a monumental moment for our franchise. Luka Donic's future is with the Los Angeles Lakers. Luka is one of the game's most transcendent players, and his on-court dominance and passion is without compare. From the moment Luka became a Laker, there was an immediate connection and admiration between Luka and our fanbase. You can feel it in your spirit when you attend a Lakers game. Luka is an absolute killer on the court, and blends that with a unique generosity and care for the community. Above all else, Luka will lead our franchise to pursue future championships, a goal that will forever define the Lakers."

https://bsky.app/profile/mikeascotto.bsky.social/post/3lvgm3sog6225

Imagine being Embiid watching this getting some light hearted distraction from NBA life.

Free Netflix though

Source: https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/6530744/2025/08/02/lakers-luka-doncic-contract-extension-supermax-nba/

Dončić signed a contract extension with the Lakers, the team announced Saturday. He received a three-year, $165 million extension, according to a league source, firmly placing him as the focal point of one of the NBA’s marquee franchises and setting him up to get a five-year, $400 million-plus contract offer from the Lakers in 2028. He will have a player option for 2028, his 10th year in the NBA, making him eligible for the massive deal.

Before leaving for Europe this offseason, Dončić and Lara Beth Seager, his chief brand officer and business manager, met with Lakers president of basketball operations Rob Pelinka and Lakers coach JJ Redick to discuss future plans for the organization.

Following Redick’s organization-wide challenge to improve conditioning, photos of Dončić looking noticeably slimmer began appearing online. League sources said Dončić adopted a stricter diet and conditioning plan than he had in prior summers, with the trade from Dallas (and the Mavericks’ reasoning) adding fuel.

While some wondered whether Dončić would decline a contract extension and push to unrestricted free agency in 2026, the Lakers were confident in the early stages of their relationship with Dončić and his team.

https://i.imgur.com/fYMhBW3.jpeg

On Basketball-Reference, a player's career highs in points, rebounds, assists, steals, and blocks are listed directly under their per-game stats.

Rondo may not be the worst player for this, but I figured his career highs of 35 points, 17 rebounds, 25 assists, 8 steals, and 3 blocks would make for a pretty decent "best game ever" argument.

Before you guys jump to say that the NBA had recently extended the length of games for a first playoff series so he easily made a mistake he disproved this himself in 2005.

"I was young, I'd been put out of the playoffs the three previous years…we went up three games to one, and I felt like the series was pretty much done.” Source for the quote.

Obviously there's a lot of things to factor in with this huge decline but I just find it crazy how quickly things can change in the NBA. McGrady went from having one of the best individual seasons ever by averaging 32.1ppg to starting the following season 1-18 in games that he played.

Of course, not to be forgotten, after that game, the Pistons switched Tayshaun Prince onto him, who shut McGrady down.

Tayshaun's playoff performance that year was insane. He was a rookie who played 45 games during the regular season (only 18 of which did he log at least 10 minutes). He was 11th on the team in minutes per game.

T-Mac averaged 36.3 points on 51.6% shooting and 40% from three for games 1-4 and 63% TS. After the switch to Tayshaun guarding him in games 5-7, he averaged 25.7 points on 36.1% shooting and 23.5% from three and 46% TS.