A clear indicator that things are going well with the Lakers this season is that President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka made a TV appearance on Spectrum SportsNet before the Lakers hosted the Clippers on Tuesday.
With the Lakers off to a 13-4, their best record 17 games into a season since 2019-20 when they won it all, Pelinka appeared just as swagged out as he was during Luka Dončić’s introductory press conference, when even Luka was cracking jokes about his outfit.
This time, his attire was
more subdued, but his words were as energetic as ever. Pelinka raved about the roster he’s constructed and the depth they’ve displayed, winning so many games even with LeBron James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves missing time.
He also talked on Spectrum Sports Net about how the team has worked on developing culture and camaraderie with non-basketball events and even a line of t-shirts that will continue to be rolled out during the season.
“One of the things early in the season that I had sort of vision of creating more fun and camaraderie around the team, so we’ve been doing things like pickleball the other day. We had one day where we had golf clubs and pitching irons on the road inside the hotel when it was raining, like closest to the pin in the big conference room. We’ve got a line of t-shirts. I’m sure you’ve read about Deandre Ayton and the lion.
“There’s going to be more in that series. So the guys just have fun stuff to talk about and it brings them together. To be honest, some of that started when we went overseas, Jeanie and I, and spent time with Luka because he was doing a lot of that with the Slovenian team and we incorporated that into our group this year.”
The Lakers aren’t just designing these shirts and politely putting them away in their drawers, they’ve embraced them. Before Los Angeles took on Milwaukee, head coach JJ Redick wore the Deandre Ayton t-shirts during his pregame media availability.
Hopefully, Redick and the players keep revealing these drops and fans can check out the designs the team comes up with for each player.
These shirts, along with Luka taking the Lakers to the Porsche Driving Experience and Jake LaRavia winning a pickleball tournament, are all small examples of how you establish culture.
Of course, none of this would matter or probably even be said if the Lakers weren’t winning, but they are working hard and playing hard. The Lakers are quickly becoming Luka’s team, and if that means there’s some playfulness to go along with on-court dominance, then Laker fans will be just fine with that.
It’s also great to hear that when Pelinka and Lakers Governor Jeanie Buss went overseas to support him, they weren’t just cheering, but observing everything. They found a way to take some of the things Dončić was doing with his national team and apply them to the Lakers.
It might not seem like much, but everything, even these small things, matters. It shows that the Lakers care about Luka and want to do things his way when possible.
And also, designing some dope t-shirts for all the players in a fashion hub like LA is a cool thing to do. If the vibes stay high, perhaps the organization puts them up for sale so others can wear them as well.
Something tells me the shirts would be a hit amongst fans.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
