Luka Dončić out, LeBron James doubtful for Lakers game ESPN changed its Saturday lineup to cover "The NBA just NBA'd itself."

By Michael Dixon on 02/07/202502/08/2025

ESPN wanted to cover Luka Dončić’s debut with the Los Angeles Lakers. In a quest to do that, the network might have created several issues for itself.

Making matters worse, ESPN created those issues by covering a game that will likely not feature Dončić or LeBron James.

Rob Perez of Sirius XM NBA and Bleacher Report detailed what happened in a post on X (formerly Twitter) on Friday night.

Perez listed the series of events that took place.

“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 ran into the start/overlapped with it considerably./5) As a result: the Duke/Clemson game was pushed back 30 minutes to make room for Lakers/Pacers and avoid conflict.” the post noted.

On its own, that’s not too bad. But as Perez continued, the problem became clear.

“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.”

Perez finished by saying, “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 post was in response to one from ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, reporting that LeBron James is doubtful for Saturday’s game. Additionally, the NBA official injury report lists Dončić as out for Saturday’s game.

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 Saturday earmarked as Dončić’s team debut, he’s been sidelined since Christmas. So, while certainly unfortunate, his being out isn’t a huge surprise.

About Michael:
-- Writer/editor for thecomeback.com and awfulannouncing.com.
-- Bay Area born and raised, currently living in the Indianapolis area.
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