THERE ARE TWO entrances to Craig's restaurant on Melrose Avenue in the West Hollywood section of Los Angeles. Those who don't mind being seen by the gaggle of paparazzi that mill about outside the notorious celebrity hangout enter through the front door. Those who don't want to be seen enter through the private entrance at the back.
Once a celebrity is safely inside, the tinted windows and dim lighting offer the kind of privacy where real business can be discussed over very expensive, very good bottles of wine and elevated comfort food like pigs in a blanket or honey truffle chicken.
On May 3, four days after the Los Angeles Lakerswere eliminated in the first round of the playoffs by the Minnesota Timberwolves, Craig's reserved a booth for four VIPs: the Lakers' new superstar point guard, Luka Doncic; his longtime manager, Lara Beth Seager; Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka; and coach JJ Redikk.
LeBron James, the centerpiece of every Lakers decision and strategy for the previous seven-plus years, was not in attendance.
Redikk, Pelinka and Seager entered through the front entrance, Doncic through the back.
But all four exited through the front door, where a crowd of paparazzi and fans spotted them and took videos that were immediately uploaded to TMZ and social media. Doncic even stopped to sign a few autographs before leaving.
The purpose of the meeting was as clear as their choice of door: Doncic is the face of the franchise now and the Lakers wanted him -- and everyone else -- to know it.
Over a bottle of Opus One, Pelinka and Redikk explained not only their strategy in building the team around Doncic's skill set, sources told ESPN, but also the complexities of the NBA's new collective bargaining agreement and how they planned to navigate it.
That exquisite bottle of wine might have helped Doncic digest Pelinka's explanation of arcane topics such as the second apron, the value of preserving salary cap space to help acquire an age-appropriate star alongside of him and what remained of the Lakers' draft assets. Pelinka had made it a working dinner, toting in a thick binder with him.
That binder, with those offseason Laker plans and longer-range strategies and dreams, used to be presented to James at meetings such as these. When the concepts of chasing players the team eventually landed -- like Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook -- and those they ultimately didn't.
Pelinka has talked often to Doncic and Seager in the 3½ months since he had acquired the young star from the Dallas Mavericks in one of the most shocking trades in NBA history.
Pelinka met Doncic when he was getting off a private jet late on a Sunday in February, hours after the stunning trade, and later that week consulted him before making a later rescinded trade for Mark Williams, one of the centers Doncic had asked to play alongside.
But there wasn't much time for relationship building in the middle of the season, and the Lakers are keenly aware -- as is the rest of the league -- that Doncic has a monumental decision to make starting Aug. 2, when he's eligible to sign an extension with the team.
No matter what the Lakers did at their center position -- they signed Deandre Ayton to be their starter -- or how they added depth to the wing -- landing Jake LaRavia -- far and away the most important piece of offseason business for the Lakers is getting a commitment from Doncic.
The prized star can opt to be a free agent next summer under his current deal, and that's an uncomfortable position for any franchise to be in. It's one the Lakers would like to avoid by getting Doncic to accept a new deal.
Doncic can add four more years and $223 million, and the Lakers will assuredly offer exactly that, but he might prefer a three-year $160 million deal instead because it sets up better for future contracts. The Lakers will gladly accept either, though they may have to be patient; Doncic is playing for the Slovenian national team this summer in the high-intensity EuroBasket, which runs through mid-September, and his NBA contract business might wait until then.
But that is not the kind of topic you talk about over dinner at Craig's in May, however. No, at that dinner plans are made to visit Doncic in Europe later this summer. Players he would like to team up with are discussed; the team's style of play and organizational culture are examined.
Behind the tinted windows, the leaders of the Lakers' organization sent a message to the star they hope will lead them: That this is what life in L.A. can be like if he elects to stay and be the next face of the franchise.
That message has been received warmly. "The Lakers leadership team has been incredibly welcoming and supportive of Luka since we arrived in L.A.," Seager told ESPN. "We've spent a lot of time talking and getting to know each other over the last few months, and we've formed a strong working relationship. Championships are won when you work together. We all share that same goal."
As the party exited out the front door, the franchise unofficially made that message public: It is ready to usher in the Luka Doncic era in Los Angeles, even if that means sunsetting the LeBron James one.
LESS THAN TWO months after that dinner meeting with Doncic, another important but quite different statement was made by the man who was not invited that night: the emeritus face of the franchise.
It came via Rich Paul, James' longtime agent and confidant.
"We understand the difficulty in winning now while preparing for the future. We do want to evaluate what's best for LeBron at this stage in his life and career," Paul said in a statement to ESPN's Shams Charania ahead of James' decision to pick up the final year and $52.6 million player option on his contract on June 30.
"He wants to make every season he has left count, and the Lakers understand that, are supportive and want what's best for him."
The statement immediately sent the NBA world into a tizzy. Though it came with the news of James picking up his $52.6 million player option, contractually tying him to the Lakers for 2025-26, it read like a goodbye letter. It suggested a larger plan or strategy was afoot.
The gigantic trade that had landed Doncic in Los Angeles had formed sudden new realities, one of which was James eventually becoming an expiring contract for the first time in his 23-year career. It was the strongest sign yet that the end of his Lakers tenure was near.
Executives around the league scurried to decode it.
One Eastern Conference executive was convinced James wanted out of LA.
A handful of teams -- including the Golden State Warriors, who tried to trade for James in 2023-24 -- considered again whether to make an offer, sources said.
One Western Conference executive chalked it up to an elaborate pout because the Lakers hadn't offered James a new contract extension.
Another Western Conference executive felt it was an attempt to pressure the Lakers' front office to go all-in on building the team this season and away from its strategy to keep the cap sheet as clean as possible for the summers of 2026 and 2027 after James' salary comes off the books.
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