Luka Doncic was back at it again, this time surprising the Lakers and staff members with more than 100 e-bikes for Christmas gifts.

Doncic, who took his teammates to a Porsche Driving Experience in October as a way to bond, gave the gifts away Tuesday after practice.

"I just wanted to give everybody something," he said. "Everybody works hard, even the people you don't see in the back, so I want to do something for them too."

Said teammate Jake LaRavia: “Shout-out to Luka, man. What a guy.”

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

They saw how “contagious” it was when playing defense at a high level against the Suns and how Jarred Vanderbilt lit the fuse to ignite things for the Lakers in their last victory over Phoenix.

And for the Lakers to maintain that defensive mindset, stars Luka Doncic and LeBron James also have to be committed to that end of the court.

That was the message from Lakers coach JJ Redick to Doncic and James.

"Yeah, it was good," Doncic said. "We talked about a lot, not just that, but he was right. You got to get a little big more, especially from the star players. So that's on us. That's on me. And we just got to give more, especially at the start of the game. We got to start the game better. But I think in Phoenix, we did a pretty good job. The plan was focused on ourselves and [our] defensive mentality, so I think we did a pretty good job."

The Lakers will be tested again on defense by the Utah Jazz Thursday night in Salt Lake City.

The Jazz have a developing star in Lauri Markkanen, a difficult matchup at 7-foot-1 who is ninth in the NBA in scoring at 27.8 points per game, and a young talent in guard Keyonte George, who is averaging 23.5 points and 6.8 assists.

Read more:Luka Doncic gifts more than 100 e-bikes to Lakers players, staff

Utah is fourth in the league in pace (102.98), ninth in scoring (119.0), second in assists (29.8). The Jazz are fifth in rebounds (45.7), eighth in offensive rebounds (12.6), and 12th in field-goal percentage.

"The way we play, we got to approach every game the same," Doncic said. "In the NBA, every team is dangerous, so at some point somebody can go for 40. They have Markkanen, and then George. They can go for 40 on any night. So we just got to work on ourselves and approach the game, make everything the same."

The all-out energy and effort by Vanderbilt off the bench was the catalyst for the Lakers against the Suns.

In his 15 minutes of action, he had seven points, seven rebounds, two steals and one blocked shot.

Vanderbilt had played only three minutes and eight seconds over a 10-game stretch prior to that point.

“Vando's minutes were huge,” Gabe Vincent said. “He came in and does what we all know he's very capable of doing and being disruptive on the defensive end, crashing the glass, getting extra possessions for us, all of which we desperately needed. You know what I mean? So his spark off the bench was huge for us."

Read more:Lakers blow 20-point lead but survive when Dillon Brooks and Suns go supernova

Now it’s about sustaining that defensive intensity, the Lakers say. And about playing with that physicality, the Lakers say.

“Yeah, when you guys asked me this the last time, it’s effort,” Jake LaRavia said. “If we just go out there and we give that kind of effort every night…We got a lot of guys on the team. Some guys might not be having it and, like you said about that contagious word, that really helps out. [Marcus] Smart does it sometimes. Vando does it sometimes. I would say I do it just being a contagious type of person to help lead the team and just being extra physical.”

The Lakers are ranked near the bottom of the league in some defensive categories, which means there remains room for improvement.

They are ranked 17th in the league in points allowed (116.7), 24th in field-goal percentage (48.1%) allowed and 28th in three-point shooting (38.1%) allowed.

“You just got to go out there and do it,” LaRavia said. “It’s not anything a coach can say. It’s not anything a player can tell another player. Yeah, it’s like the individual player’s job to go out there and give effort on defense and that’s contagious. It just goes around.”

Deandre Ayton wins award

Lakers center Deandre Ayton on Wednesday was named by the NBA and the National Basketball Players Assn. as the winner of the Bob Lanier Community Assist Award for November. Ayton was recognized for his philanthropic work across the Bahamas, which is his home country, Jamaica and Los Angeles through the Ayton Family Foundation. Ayton will miss the game at Utah on Thursday because of left elbow soreness.

Sign up for our weekly newsletter on all things Lakers.

This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.

In a moment that encapsulated how far Jalen Brunson’s development has taken him since joining the Knicks four summers ago, he was named NBA Cup MVP on Tuesday night following the team's thrilling 124-113 title win over the Spurs in Las Vegas. 

Brunson scored 25 points and dished eight assists -- an uncharacteristically pedestrian night in what’s been a career year for the star point guard.

Under new head coach Mike Brown, Brunson is having not only the best scoring year of his life, but maybe in the league. He’s averaging a career-high 28.8 points on 54.6 percent shooting from two and 37.6 percent from three -- notching career-best marks in efficiency despite the most volume he’s seen since the injury-riddled 2023-24 season.

This is due in part to Brunson’s growth, but also a diversification in his attack, courtesy of Brown’s offense. His emphasis on motion and pace principles has helped evolve Brunson’s scoring to a new level, and there are signs it’s only getting started.

One thing Brown identified early is that Brunson is one of the NBA's best shooters -- arguably the best on the roster -- yet wasn’t treated as such. Despite consistently converting in the high 30s and low 40s from deep, he hasn’t taken many as a Knick for various reasons over the years, but primarily due to having so much ball-handling responsibility and favor for the mid-range. 

In fact, this is the first year Brunson's led the Knicks in three-point attempts per game, and the first he’s cracked seven attempts per night in his career, a number Jaylen Brown eclipsed in 2021. The solution: getting Brunson off the ball and firing more.

Brunson’s taking 10.3 threes per 100 possessions this year, 1.7 more than last season with plenty of room to match the real high-volume guards. He’s generally had a greener light on stepbacks and triple-threat pull-ups, but is thriving off more catch-and-shoot looks in transition and the halfcourt.

Due to his embrace of Brown’s new schemes, Brunson is getting rid of the ball earlier and more often, opening him up as a scoring and screening threat, a la what he did in the back half of 2023-24. 

As a result, 40 percent of his three-point tries have come on catch-and-shoots, compared to one-third last season, and he’s knocking down an 46.4 percent of them.

His pull-up shooting started off slow but has picked up in recent games, so expect his numbers to look even better in due time. If he doubles down on shooting more threes, watch out.

Maximizing Brunson as an off-ball threat has been one way of diversifying his looks beyond traditional isolations, pick-and-rolls, and set plays. Brown’s motion schemes have Brunson attacking in the random flow of the offense, whether via high dribble hand-offs, backdoor cuts, or as an off-ball spacer.

As gifted an isolation scorer as Brunson is, endlessly pounding the rock has diminishing returns, individually and to team success. This year, 13.8 percent of his plays are ending in isolations, according got NBA.com play type data, down from 17.3 percent last season, and the lowest portion of his offense since his first campaign as a Knick.

This dynamic approach has lifted his efficiency despite some of the highest volume in his career. This is also due to Brunson getting to his spots and shooting quicker and easier than ever before.

The new offense has the Knicks looking for semi-transition and early shot clock opportunities after every defensive possession, and they’re getting into their halfcourt actions much quicker as well. This has led to more opportunities where the defense isn’t set or gets tripped up in an action, leading to an easy score.

Even when Brunson is breaking down a defender, like he’s done a thousand times before, New York’s new spacing and cutting give him more room to attack than he's ever had. He’s otherwise working far less to get his offense as a result of these changes, with his average seconds and dribbles per touch and shot materially down year over year.

This has led to one of Brunson’s highest usage rates, yet a career-low in turnover rate and a true-shooting clip that would be a new high if he took some more free throws. In some ways, Brown evalted Brunson from James Harden to Stephen Curry, and it has paid early dividends.

As Brunson’s shooting numbers rise, the Knicks will get some healthy pieces back and continue to build on their new system.

There’s no ceiling on the damage he can inflict on the league with his scoring -- we’ve seen it in the playoffs, and now the NBA Cup. If Brunson keeps this up, we’ll see it in the NBA Finals soon enough.

Laurene Powell Jobs, a prominent philanthropist and one of the country’s wealthiest people, is selling her stake in Monumental Sports & Entertainment to private equity firm Arctos Partners and Qatar Investment Authority, a Qatari sovereign wealth fund, a source briefed on the matter confirmed on Wednesday.

Monumental Sports owns the NBA’s Washington Wizards, the WNBA’s Washington Mystics, the NHL’s Washington Capitals, the G League’s Capital City Go-Go and Monumental Sports Network.

Powell Jobs, whose late husband was Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, has owned a minority share of Monumental since 2017. She runs the Emerson Collective, which is known for its venture capital investments and philanthropic work.

It is not clear how much of her stake QIA and Arctos will each take. The deal is expected to be announced Wednesday.

Representatives for Monumental did not immediately respond to calls from The Athletic. An email to Emerson Collective, which is owned by Powell Jobs, was not immediately returned.

Sportico first reported the transaction.

QIA bought into Monumental Sports in 2023, taking a 5 percent stake. That deal came just months after the NBA changed its rules to allow sovereign wealth funds to buy into its teams.

Arctos is a leading sports private equity firm. It was one of the first to invest in NBA teams and has taken stakes in dozens of teams across professional sports. In the NBA, it holds ownership stakes in the Golden State Warriors, Utah Jazz, Sacramento Kings and Philadelphia 76ers.

Individual sovereign wealth funds and private equity companies can own a maximum of 20 percent of a team, and a team can sell no more than 30 percent to them in total. They can only be passive investors, with no governing ability.

This article originally appeared in The Athletic.

Washington Capitals, Washington Wizards, Washington Mystics, NHL, NBA, WNBA, Sports Business

2025 The Athletic Media Company

Forsberg: ‘No ceiling' for C's and more takeaways from Stevens' comments originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

On Wednesday, Boston Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens addressed a variety of topics during an impromptu press conference.

Stevens touched on Jayson Tatum’s recovery from his Achilles injury, the Celtics’ trade deadline approach, Jordan Walsh’s development, and more. NBC Sports Boston’s Chris Forsberg shared his instant reaction to Stevens’ comments during the latest episode of the Celtics Talk Podcast.

Here were Forsberg’s biggest takeaways…

No Disabled Player Exception after Jayson Tatum’s injury

Stevens stated that the Celtics didn’t apply for a DPE after Tatum’s injury. The DPE allows teams to replace a player who is deemed likely to be out for the season with another player via trade or free agency, providing financial flexibility.

“The way that Brad voiced it was to suggest that they never wanted to put a ceiling on what was possible with Jayson Tatum,” Forsberg said. “I thought it was interesting that Brad brought that up unprovoked. …

“But we’ve gone from talking about (Tatum) missing a year, to missing months — we’re almost at the point where Tatum is just gonna be weeks. Maybe it’s six weeks, maybe it’s eight weeks, whatever the number is.”

Will Celtics target a big man to help Neemias Queta?

Stevens said there will be no “ceiling” put on this Celtics team, meaning he’s willing to get aggressive ahead of the trade deadline to upgrade the roster if it makes sense to do so.

“Neemias Queta is the only pure 7-footer on this roster that is playing consistently,” Forsberg said. “It’s only natural as we sit here and look at the trade deadline that we’re laser-focused on that. … There’s gonna be a need at the center spot beyond this season, and the Celtics need to examine all possibilities about what the best path forward is with that. …

“I wonder if the success of the team, the potential return of Tatum, emboldens you a little bit to consider what’s out there and be maybe a little bit more willing.”

Jordan Walsh’s defensive impact

Stevens spoke on Walsh’s development since joining the team as a second-round draft pick in 2023. Forsberg shared his thoughts on Walsh enjoying an unexpectedly outstanding season — particularly on the defensive end.

“Jordan Walsh might be the biggest surprise in the entire NBA with the way that he has elevated not only to a starter, but he has become a player that opposing players like Austin Reaves are saying could be an elite defender in this league,” Forsberg said. “Joe (Mazzulla) has even given him his flowers.

“The big part of the reason the Celtics were able to turn the corner as quickly this season as they did was the way that Walsh infused energy, shored up a lot of what wasn’t working well.

Watch the full episode, which includes Stevens’ full press conference, on YouTube below: