The Los Angeles Lakers were relatively quiet at the trade deadline, swapping Gabe Vincent and a second-round pick to the Atlanta Hawks for Luke Kennard. His shooting was badly needed and could be a nice boost to the Lakers offense, helping keep the floor spaced around Luka Dončić, LeBron James and Austin Reaves. But ultimately, shipping out Vincent may inspire the biggest change for Dončić.
Since he entered the NBA, Dončić has always worn the number 77. Before that, with Real Madrid, he wore the number 7, reportedly to honor his basketball idol, Greek legend Vassilis Spanoulis (h/t Basketnews):
"Spanoulis was my idol since I was little. I was watching him. It was kind of sad seeing him retire. That's why I wear number 7. I mean, I couldn't wear number 7 because it was already taken, so I took 77. He was really, really big time for me."
If you're unfamiliar with his game, Spanoulis was an absolute bucket. He won three Euroleague titles with Olympiacos and was Euroleague MVP in 2013. With his stocky frame and elite shot-making, it's easy to see why Dončić would be so inspired.
When Dončić was drafted by the Mavs, Dwight Powell had already been with the team for four years, wearing the No. 7, so he took No. 77. He had the same issue with the Slovenian national team — officially joining the senior team in 2016, where Klemen Prepelič had been wearing the No. 7 since 2014. So, again, Dončić went with No. 77. When he was traded to the Lakers last season, Vincent was already in Los Angeles, wearing No. 7.
With Vincent traded, the No. 7 is now open to Dončić for the first time since he left Real Madrid in 2018.
Will Luka Dončić change his jersey number?
So far, there is no indication that he's considering a change. And while No. 7 clearly has some personal significance, he's also created plenty of that around No. 77. He's by far the best of the 26 players to ever wear that number in the NBA — a list that, interestingly includes a lot of other European players. Andrea Bargnani, Ersan Ilyasova, Joffrey Lauvergne, Gheorghe Muresan, Sasha Pavlović, Vincent Poirier and Vladimir Radmanović all wore No. 77.
But just because he's built a legacy wearing a certain number doesn't mean a change is off the table. In fact, there's an established track record of the biggest stars in the league changing their numbers.
- Michael Jordan wore No. 45 for a brief period when he returned from his first retirement, eschewing the iconic No. 23 that he made famous and eventually returned to.
- Kobe Bryant played for a decade and won three titles wearing No. 8. He then switched his jersey to No. 24, played another 11 seasons, winning an MVP and two more rings.
- Kevin Durant began his career wearing No. 35 and kept that number when he went to the Warriors and helped them win two titles. He switched to No. 7 when he joined the Nets, switched back to No. 35 for his 2+ seasons in Phoenix, and then chose to wear No. 7 when he joined the Rockets this summer.
- LeBron James has changed his jersey number multiple times. He wore No. 23 during his first run with the Cavs, changing to No. 6 when he went to the Heat in free agency. When he returned to Cleveland four years later, he went back to No. 23 and wore the same number for his first three years in LA. He switched back to No. 6 for two seasons and then went back to No. 23 in 2023 after Bill Russell died and the NBA retired his number league-wide.
All that is to say, Dončić is an established international brand unto himself. If he wanted to switch jerseys to honor his childhood hero, he could easily do it without any financial or commercial repercussions. Chances are that if he did decide to change jerseys, it wouldn't happen until the beginning of next season, so you have some time to collect No. 77 merchandise and hope it suddenly becomes a collectors' item.