A modified Hollywood sign image from a Gatorade ad for Luka Dončić's Lakers' debut. A modified Hollywood sign image from a Gatorade ad for Luka Dončić’s Lakers’ debut. (Joe Pompliano on X.)
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After almost a week of discussion from the seismic Luka Dončić-Anthony Davis trade that upended the NBA, Dončić finally made his debut for the Los Angeles Lakers Monday night on ESPN against the Utah Jazz. And that came with brands, including Nike (and their Jordan Brand) and Gatorade, going all-out to promote this:

The Lakers went quite a ways themselves, putting shirts with Dončić’s name and number on every seat:

And they even recut their intro video to work him in, and then announced him last in the starting lineup (a spot that had been reserved for LeBron James). And the crowd went wild for that introduction:

Once the game started, there was plenty further to talk about with Dončić. In particular, he hit a one-legged shot that sparked comparisons to both James and legendary Maverick Dirk Nowitzki (who was in the house for this one):

We’ll see how the Dončić deal works out overall. But brands are certainly going all-out to promote him as a Laker, and that adds to the way ESPN moved their schedule around to feature this debut. And it looks likely there’s going to be even more attention paid to him in L.A. over the next while.

About Andrew Bucholtz

Andrew Bucholtz has been covering sports media for Awful Announcing since 2012. He is also a staff writer for The Comeback. His previous work includes time at Yahoo! Sports Canada and Black Press.

View all posts by Andrew Bucholtz