ESPN aimed to cover Luka Dončić’s debut with the Los Angeles Lakers, but in doing so, it created several issues, particularly as the game may not even feature Dončić or LeBron James. Rob Perez of Sirius XM NBA and Bleacher Report shared the details of the situation in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday night, outlining the sequence of events.
“1) Tomorrow’s game between the Lakers and Pacers tips at 1 PM PT./2) This was originally believed to be Luka’s Lakers debut day./3) Because of this, ESPN flexed out Friday’s Jazz/Suns game to pick up the Saturday game in LA./4) A problem arose. ESPN was scheduled to air Duke vs. Clemson at 3 PM PT, and the Laker game would have overlapped significantly./5) As a result: the Duke/Clemson game was pushed back 30 minutes to accommodate Lakers/Pacers and avoid conflict.” the post noted.
Initially, these adjustments may not seem too detrimental; however, the complications became more evident as Perez continued. “6) News dropped yesterday that Luka’s return from injury is likely to be delayed until Monday vs. Utah./7) Now LeBron is downgraded to doubtful, per the news below./8) ESPN will interrupt their college basketball Saturday slate for the Pacers & LeBronless/Lukaless Zombie Lakers,” he remarked, ultimately concluding, “The NBA just NBA’d itself.”
ESPN just got rugged by the NBA so bad.
Here’s what happened:1) Tomorrow’s game between the Lakers and Pacers tips at 1 PM PT.
2) This was originally believed to be Luka’s Lakers debut day.
3) Because of this, ESPN flexed out Friday’s Jazz/Suns game to pick up the Saturday game… https://t.co/m6OGGmRJex— Rob Perez (@WorldWideWob) February 8, 2025
Perez’s commentary came in response to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, who reported that LeBron James is doubtful for Saturday’s game. Additionally, the NBA’s official injury report confirmed that Dončić will not be playing.
Indeed, according to the NBA’s official media report, Luka is out. https://t.co/d4uuZrN4Ac pic.twitter.com/26ru8AKSL6
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) February 8, 2025
While the Lakers had anticipated this Saturday as Dončić’s debut, he has been sidelined since Christmas. Therefore, though disappointing, his absence is not entirely unexpected.
