When Luka Doncic was traded to the Los Angeles Lakers at the February deadline, thus ending his dreams of retiring a Dallas Maverick, the subsequent press conference was ... somber, to say the least. Doncic had had little time to process the move before propping himself up before reporters, and was all the while dealing with an onslaught of speculation regarding the rationale behind it all. Suffice it to say, he certainly was not his most sparkly self.
But on Saturday, after he signed a three-year, $165 million extension with his new long-term home, the new-look Doncic seemed calm, confident and—dare we say it—happy, what seems like a lifetime removed from that day back in February.
Maybe it was the windfall in his pocket. Maybe it was his physical transformation over the offseason