Luka Dončić said LeBron’s pregame speech gave him chills

Apparently, LeBron James' speech to Luka Dončić in front of the team helped set the tone for Luka’s Lakers debut.

The welcome that Luka Dončić received during his Lakers debut was as grand as possible. The fans cheered for their next great player, his mentor Dirk Nowitzki was in attendance and so were the Hollywood stars ready to witness Luka Magic live in Los Angeles.

LeBron James was also doing everything he could to support Luka, from allowing him to be the last starter announced to giving him words of encouragement pregame.

The camera caught LeBron’s pregame speech where he said, “Luka, be your f---ing self. Don’t fit in, fit the f--- out.”

After the win, during his first Lakers postgame press conference, Luka talked about what LeBron’s speech meant to him in the moment.

“Like I said before, it’s special,” Luka said. “For him to say something like that just feels amazing, gives me confidence. After that speech, it was chills. I was just happy to be part of it.”

Despite some media chatter about Luka being the future and how LeBron might feel about a new person of interest entering the Lakers, his actions have been incredible. As a leader, everything he's done has supported Luka and LeBron is finding ways to lift him up even higher than he already is.

By reminding him just to be himself and not worry about fitting into the team, he’s giving him the permission to just be the Luka we all know he can be.

In Dončić’s debut, however, he didn’t play like himself. The Lakers won in blowout fashion, but Luka scored just 14 points on 5-14 shooting and made only one 3-pointer.

Still, the fact that Luka is back and playing is more than enough right now.

He will undoubtedly find his form and with LeBron fully prepared to support him with his actions and words, Dončić will be just fine in the long run.

LeBron was a great No. 1 during the LeBron and AD era. Now, at the start of the Luka and LeBron period, he is still a great leader who will do everything to help his co-star feel welcomed so the Lakers can win as much as possible.

You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.