By Eurohoops team/ info@eurohoops.net
Lebron James revealed that he wanted Luka Doncic to be the first player to join his “Team Lebron” with Nike. Doncic eventually signed a five-year contract with Jordan.
Here’s what Lebron said:
“When Luka was going through his contract negotiations with Nike, and you saw him at one point he would wear Jordans, and started wearing the other brands on his feet during practices … I wanted to begin ‘Team LeBron’ and have Luka as my first signing with Nike.
“This is what I wanted, and I don’t believe my guys at Nike were ready for that. Obviously they were not, because he ended up going to Jordan, and I don’t even know if Luka knows this, but he would know it now. I wanted Luka to be the first signing of Team LeBron when he was going through his situation. And it didn’t happen, he’s still under the same umbrella of Nike’s with Jordan, but I wanted him to be (with Team LeBron) …
“That’s how much I believe in him, and I feel like it’s going to haunt me a little bit. But I wanted him to be my guy, I wanted him to be my first guy because I just love what he stands for. I love everything about him both on the court and off the court. He’s just a great guy.”
Doncic has numerous fans in the NBA also among players and he can certainly count Lebron among them.
“Luka is one of my favorite players in the NBA today,” James had said before talking about his “Team Lebron” ambition for Luka. “For the simple fact of, the way I play the game is exactly how I love the way he plays the game. Team-first, gets his guys involved, if you challenge me to score, I’m gonna score. And at the same time, I’m gonna score, but I’m gonna keep my guys involved. … I play for the team, and I’m gonna play with a sense of joy.”