Lakers Notes: Doncic, Redick, Wing Depth, Buss Family Dispute

The LakersMonday’s season-opening win over Sacramento Luka DoncicThe first competitive game in more than six months, writes Hobie Price of The New York Post. Doncic suffered a severe left hamstring injury on April 2 and was unable to return before Los Angeles was eliminated from the playoffs.

“I really missed it” – he said. “Basketball is one of the best things in my life and I’ve missed it a lot. To be back playing, to compete, it’s just fun for me and I’m very happy to be back.”

Doncic would normally have represented Slovenia during the World Cup qualifiers in August, but he decided to skip international competition this summer to focus on family matters. He is involved in a custody battle with his ex-fiancée, and he wanted to spend more time with his young daughters.

He looked as sharp as ever in his debut Monday, making 5 of 12 shots from the field and scoring 21 points in 16 minutes.

“He’s great physically” coach Jay Jay Reddick said. “I mean, the guy worked all summer. (Stayed) in shape and actually ran this summer, like he actually liked sprints and stuff. And came into camp in fantastic shape. For a guy who normally plays basketball, live basketball, he didn’t do that much in the summer by design. And I think we saw him literally every day in camp, gradually just (getting) more and more rhythm.”

More on the Lakers:

• Redick was unhappy with his team’s focus during Tuesday’s loss to Golden State, calling a timeout midway through the second possession, Price adds in a separate story. Several rotation players sat out the second night of back-to-back meetings, but Redick isn’t taking that as an excuse. “When you write the first play and then you give them the second play that we spent ten days scripting or whatever, and neither of them are executed properly, that’s unacceptable.” – he said. “You’re not ready to play. It got us off to a bad start.”
• The article is for subscribers only Tuc Ni Nguyen of The Los Angeles Times looks at some of the positional battles going on during the preseason. Ziair Williams and Mathis Tiboule both started on Monday, but they will face challenges for a regular rotation of minutes with Goodbye Thierorecruit Cameron Carr and others. Redick expressed confidence in his depth and suggested he could use as many as six or seven wings a game.
• Ginny BassThe five siblings filed a formal objection against her on Wednesday in Los Angeles Superior Court petition bar them from selling the family’s minority stake in the Lakers for Dan Voike of The Athletic. Jimmy, Johnny, Jenny, Joey and Jesse Bass claim that they are entitled to include the family’s share in the sale Joshua Kushner and Bob Iger at a valuation of $12.5 billion. “While discussions between the siblings continue, their focus remains on facilitating the proposed transaction and the Trust’s participation in it, ensuring that all beneficiaries are treated equally, including Ginny.” the five siblings said in a prepared statement. “Today’s filing is a necessary step to protect those interests and ensure the transaction proceeds on schedule.”