The Los Angeles Lakers suffered a demoralizing postseason exit at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves and their superstar guard Anthony Edwards in the first round of the 2025 NBA Playoffs.
The generational tandem of LeBron James and ex-Dallas Mavericks star Luka Dončić failed to raise the Larry O’Brien trophy in their first stint as teammates, giving the franchise ample time to prepare for next season.
Yes, Los Angeles came well short of their lofty expectations. Still, it’s hard not to view the storied franchise as the ultimate winner of the 2024-25 NBA season when looking at the bigger picture.
In fact, one Hall of Fame inductee suggested that despite their early playoff elimination, the Lakers’ acquisition of Dončić was the best possible decision that general manager Rob Pelinka could have made for a heightened chance of future on-court success and exponential growth from a monetary perspective for the multi-billion dollar organization.
“How I looked at (the trade) is that this is the business of basketball that we’re dealing with here,” former 3-time NBA champion with the Miami Heat Dwyane Wade shared on a Tuesday episode of his podcast, Timeout with Dwyane Wade.
“At the end of the day, it’s a bottom line to this. This is a business. What did I say? I said billionaire business.”
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“We’re talking about the Los Angeles Lakers, and so we sit here at the end of the season, we look at it and say, ‘Well, No. 1 in jersey sales, who is it?’ Luka Dončić. ‘Team, No. 1 in jersey sales, who is it?’ Los Angeles Lakers.”
“When we talk about even building a face, everyone’s talking about, ‘Who’s the face? Who’s the face?’ Well, I know who the international face is. His name is Luka Dončić.”
“And it’s not that he wasn’t (the face) when he was in Dallas, but it really is because he’s in the Lakers uniform.”
In the aftermath of the Lakers’ league-shattering mid-season deal with the Mavericks to bring the 26-year-old Slovenian prodigy aboard, Wade’s assessment couldn’t be more accurate.
Dončić led the NBA in jersey sales this past season over legendary talents such as the Golden State Warriors’ 4-time NBA champion Stephen Curry and even his own iconic teammate James.
As a franchise, the Lakers will aim to become more profitable than ever on a global scale with the 5-time All-NBA First Team selection’s arrival.
The 40-year-old James is in the twilight of his illustrious career, but the Lakers were able to secure their franchise player for the next decade, and one that will certainly promote financial success through his world-class talent and worldwide notoriety.
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