THE INTERMITTENT FASTING was put on hold for a few hours.
As the dishes were served in Katowice, Poland -- a salad for Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss; fish for Lakers president of basketball operations and general manager Rob Pelinka; and a steak and vegetables, plus a salad, for the man they flew more than 6,000 miles to see -- the Lakers' traveling representatives made it clear over a long lunch in late August that if something was important to Luka Doncic, then it was important to them, too.
The 26-year-old superstar was preparing to put his trimmed-down body, honed by months of intense workouts and dietary discipline (including a daily 16-hour fasting window), to the test for his national team, competing for Slovenia in EuroBasket a month ahead of training camp for the next NBA season.
And the Lakers intended for their endorsement of him playing in EuroBasket to resonate -- loud and clear.
"Luka has a tremendous amount of heartfelt pride and appreciation for his roots and playing for his country," Pelinka told ESPN. "I just think in the partnerships we have with our players, the Lakers want to be mindful of players' passions and who they are as men and then lean in and support those things. So, around Luka, it was a very easy partnership decision that we wanted to support."
Beyond the opportunity to build trust between the player who inked a three-year, $165 million contract extension Aug. 2 and team brass, EuroBasket was a chance for the organization to establish best practices to align with its new star -- an opportunity the team didn't have in the wake of February's shocking trade with the Dallas Mavericks.
There was a group chat before and after every game that included Pelinka and Dr. Leroy Sims, the Lakers director of player performance and health, and Lara Beth Seager, Doncic's chief brand officer and business manager, and Javy Barrio, Doncic's physiotherapist.
The general tone of the Lakers' messages to Doncic's crew? "'Hey, whatever we can do to help, we're here,'" a source close to Doncic told ESPN.
Dr. Sims made the trip to Poland, as did longtime Lakers stakeholders Kurt and Linda Rambis. Lakers assistant coach Greg St. Jean joined Slovenia's staff as an assistant and spent 40 days with the team through the tourney with games in Slovenia, Germany, Poland and Latvia. The Lakers even made their equipment manager available as a resource for Slovenia, sources said, when Doncic's team needed gear.
Doncic's desire to play for his country, and his public dedication to radically reshape his physique, showed his new level of ownership over his career, after a trade that was out of his control.
The Lakers knew, to prove their belief in and appreciation for Doncic, they needed to demonstrate commensurate investment.
And the return, they hope, will come not only in the final days of LeBron James' tenure, but extend far past it in the role they want Doncic to fill for the franchise.
AS THE LAKERS cheered him on, Doncic dominated EuroBasket.
He was named to the All-Star Five for the tournament, and averaged 34.7 points per game -- the most by a player in a single EuroBasket since Nikos Galis averaged 35.6 points for Greece in 1989.
Doncic recorded more points (243) than minutes played (233) and elevated his game in the knockout rounds -- averaging 40.5 points in two win-or-go-home games.
In Slovenia's 99-91 quarterfinals loss to Germany, the eventual gold medal winner, Doncic's team led for 26 of the 40 minutes. Germany trailed for only 18 minutes total in its six games in the tournament before facing Slovenia.
The Lakers' coaching staff, team sources said, was impressed with how Doncic was moving compared with how he played in the second half of last season, when he was slowed because of a lingering calf strain. His improvement showed in Doncic's quickness in splitting double-teams. It showed in his lift off the floor.
It even showed defensively, long a wart on what is already a Hall of Fame rsum.
At one point during the tournament, sources told ESPN, St. Jean showed a video edit of Doncic's defensive effort to Slovenia's coach, Aleksander Sekuli. St. Jean believed that Doncic, beyond his offensive brilliance, was the team's best defensive player, too. The edit showed -- possession by possession -- Doncic's proper placement, communication with teammates and overall commitment.
Pelinka saw it, too and registered it as an advancement in Doncic's leadership ability.
"Players playing basketball in the offseason is something that, from a leadership standpoint, I support," Pelinka said. "I think you could say in some sense that some of the offseason and sort of the current basketball lens, especially in the States, is on individual work. And I think that sort of the team environment can get lost."
It was part of the cost-benefit analysis that Pelinka considered when endorsing Doncic's EuroBasket participation. Yes, more basketball and additional activity could put a player at risk of injury -- a fear that came to fruition when a teammate fell into his leg against Latvia on Aug. 16 and Doncic suffered a right knee contusion.
Still, Pelinka said, he'd make the same decision.
"There's risk in anything," he said. "There's risks in over-individualized training and wearing muscles down that way, or joints down that way. Luka's incredibly thoughtful about how he approaches his way to improve as a basketball player. And I think you can tell he is the highest form of himself when he is in a competitive environment. That's just what animates him."
WITH TRAINING CAMP opening later this month, Doncic and the Lakers see his EuroBasket summer as a perfect setup for the season ahead.
Doncic had led a Slovenian team filled with, as one league source described to ESPN, players mostly below NCAA Division I-level talent to the quarterfinals of one of the most competitive tournaments in the world. What could he do, in a full season, with LeBron James and Austin Reaves?
While Doncic and the Lakers used the summer to demonstrate their commitment to one another, the season will bring new challenges to meet each of their expectations.
Doncic has struggled to maintain healthy habits within the rigors of an 82-game season, constant travel and managing the stress that comes from losses (or even the joys from wins). And for Pelinka and the Lakers, it's one thing to put together an international itinerary; it's quite another to put together a deal to improve this star-laden roster, and figure out the trade assets to do so.
Still, the summer provided a stable foundation ahead of whatever rocky terrain both sides might have to navigate.
The experience, Doncic told ESPN, already made him feel more connected to L.A.
"The support from the Lakers organization and Laker Nation [was] amazing," he said. "It meant so much to me that Rob, Jeanie, Kurt, Linda and Dr. Sims came to Poland and that Lakers fans were watching EuroBasket and cheering for Slovenia."
And Doncic's play was a reminder to the Lakers that there's no time to wait for the LeBron Era to end before building the Luka one.
"Luka's play in EuroBasket made it clear to the entire basketball world that he's on that incredibly short list of 'best player on the planet' candidates, if not at the top," Pelinka said. "In terms of team building, we've talked about the importance of having optionality and when I use that word, it's not to say in the future. I think optionality is also in the now. Having both Luka as arguably the best player on the planet and LeBron James, who is still in the mix of being one of the great players in our game, even at his age, continues to allow us to think carefully about the value of that optionality."
L.A. will open training camp with 14 players on the roster, including Rui Hachimura ($18.3 million), Gabe Vincent ($11.5 million) and Maxi Kleber ($11 million) on expiring contracts. They can include one of their 2031 or 2032 first-round picks in a potential deal. And with Doncic signed long term, the Lakers are open to trading for a player on a contract that extends beyond 2026, sources told ESPN.
"If there are smart ways to pour into our championship aspirations for next year, we will execute on those," Pelinka said. "And we see having those two players on our team next year [as] an important moment, and we'll continue to try to do all we can to deliver this franchise its 18th championship."
Coming off this summer of matched investment toward that goal, there is certainly alignment.
"He stresses every single day that his goal is to win a championship," a source close to Doncic told ESPN. "He trusts the front office to do their part, and he trusts what they're building."
