You do not have to read too deep between the lines to see what Luka Doncic is doing. Every time he talks about the Los Angeles Lakers’ future, he keeps bringing up one name: Mark Walter. It's not Jeanie Buss, not Rob Pelinka. Walter.
According to ESPN’s Tim MacMahon, that is no accident: “Everything you hear coming from Luka Dončić… when he talks about the future of the Lakers, Mark Walter’s name is always mentioned in there very strategically.”
Luka Doncic is aligning with the Lakers’ next leader
Strategically is the keyword there. Walter, who owns the Los Angeles Dodgers and is now a growing force in Lakers leadership after purchasing the majority of ownership at $10 billion, might not be the official team governor yet, but Doncic sees him as the guy in charge.
When your franchise player starts pointing at someone over and over? That is how power shifts in the NBA. We have seen how this goes before. Just ask Celtics fans what happened with their longtime team governor, Wyc Grousbeck.
Grousbeck was expected to stay on as team governor through at least 2028. Instead, he stepped aside much sooner, and new owner Bill Chisholm took over full control almost immediately.
The message was sent loud and clear: When new money buys in, change often happens quicker than expected.
Even look at what happened with Mark Cuban and the Dallas Mavericks. When Cuban sold control to the Adelson family, he thought he would still have a say in running things. That changed fast. The new owners took over, and big decisions, like trading Doncic, came quickly.
Now the Lakers may be next. Officially, Buss still runs the day-to-day as the current team governor. But the franchise has not exactly been stable these past few seasons. There have been constant coaching changes, inconsistent rosters, and early playoff exits.
The front office needed a reset, and Doncic may have just helped push it in a new direction. He signed a 3-year contract extension this offseason worth $165 million and has made it clear he is here to build something. Doncic is also letting it be known who he trusts to help shape that future.
It is rare to see a player this dialed in to who is making the calls behind the curtain, but Doncic is not your typical star. He is not just focused on putting up stats, but he is thinking about the big picture, which is ultimately winning. Clearly, that picture includes Walter at the center.