Lakers guard Luka Doncic, right, gets a hand slap from forward Jarred Vanderbilt during the Lakers’ 132-113 win over the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena on Monday night. Doncic scored 14 points in his first game with the Lakers. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times)
Luu-ka!…Luu-ka!
For three exhilarating hours they screamed his name.
For three franchise-changing hours, these were the Los Angeles Lukas.
It was only his first game in purple and gold since being stolen from the Dallas Mavericks nine days ago, yet Luka Doncic and the Laker fans were already on a first-name basis.
On a wondrous night against the Utah Jazz at Crypto.com Arena, a new era began with two syllables and a prayer.
“Luu…ka! Luu…ka!”
They screamed it when he showed up on the court during pregame warmups. They screamed it during introductions in which he, and not LeBron James, was announced last. They screamed it during every pause in the national anthem, finally singing it like it was the anthem itself.
“Luu-ka!…Luu-ka!”
Read more: Luka Doncic embraced by LeBron James and L.A. in his memorable Lakers debut
Then the game started and they really screamed it, celebrating the new kid in the most buzzy Lakers regular-season game since Kobe Bryant’s retirement night in 2016.
They screamed it when Doncic lofted a pretty ally-oop pass to a dunking Jaxson Hayes in the first minute. They screamed it when he nailed a three-pointer over Walker Kessler a few minutes later.
They screamed it when, clearly winded, he walked over to the bench for a cup of water. They screamed it when he nonetheless hustled back to throw in a second-chance layup. They screamed it when he capped his night with a three-quarter-court pass to James for a picturesque layup.
They not only screamed his name, they wore it, on the backs of souvenir T-shirts that were laid across every seat before the game, “77” everywhere, the usually too-cool Lakers crowd donning the cotton from the lower bowl to the upper deck and, believe it or not, at least one courtside hipster even squeezed into the freebie.
The Lakers’ 132-113 victory was a Luka Lovefest and, watching this oh-so-very…
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