The Los Angeles Lakers did not wait for training camp to start becoming a team
Footage of Luka Doncic leading his teammates through workouts in his home country of Slovenia spread quickly across social media this weekend, and the clips gave fans their first real look at the group that will open the season without LeBron James
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Doncic organized the whole trip himself, and the sight of him running the show in Ljubljana felt like a preview of the leadership role he is stepping into this year
A Minicamp In Ljubljana
The gathering ran four days in Slovenia’s capital, with Doncic chartering the flights and covering the costs for the group
The itinerary mixed basketball workouts with golf, fishing, group dinners and a visit to Lake Bled, and photos of Lakers players kayaking together made the rounds almost as fast as the gym clips did
Only first-round pick Cameron Carr missed the trip because of the league’s rookie orientation requirements, which says a lot about the buy-in from the rest of the locker room in the middle of August
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Getting almost an entire NBA roster to fly across the world in the offseason is not a small ask
The star of the videos looked different too
Doncic showed up noticeably leaner, continuing the physical transformation he has worked on since the Lakers were knocked out of the playoffs in the spring, and he paired the new frame with a headband look that fans immediately compared to Austin Reaves
Chemistry Before Camp
James left for the Philadelphia 76ers in free agency, and the front office reshaped the roster around Doncic with newcomers like Walker Kessler, Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Kevon Looney and Matisse Thybulle, all of whom made the trip
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Four days together in Slovenia gives those new pieces early reps with the franchise player, and it gives Doncic a head start on setting the tone for a locker room that now belongs to him
There is also a basketball reason to buy the excitement
Doncic averaged 33.5 points per game across 64 appearances last season, while Reaves put up 23.3 points and 5.5 assists a night, so the returning core is productive enough that better chemistry could translate quickly
What Comes Next
The Lakers open the preseason on October 5 and begin the regular season on October 21 against the Golden State Warriors, so the group Doncic hosted will be back together soon enough
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A summer trip does not win anybody a playoff series, but organized offseason work from a franchise player is very encouraging
Fans should not stress over reports of rival teams monitoring Doncic’s situation, and a trip like this supports that view, as does Matt Barnes’ take on the new-look roster and Bronny James’ blunt reaction to his father’s exit
The pictures from Slovenia show a team that wanted to be together in the middle of August, and October will test all of it soon enough
