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 Lakers were 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 Redick.
LeBron James, the centerpiece of every Lakers decision and strategy for the previous seven-plus years, was not in attendance.
Redick, 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 Redick 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 them.
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.
That binder, with those offseason Lakers plans and longer-range strategies and dreams, used to be presented to James at meetings like these. On the agenda, the concepts of chasing players the team eventually landed -- such as 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 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 might have to be patient; Doncic is playing for the Slovenian national team this summer in high-intensity EuroBasket, which runs through mid-September, and his NBA contract business might wait until then.
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: 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.
