LeBron's pep talk inspired Doncic on Lakers debut

Luka Doncic was lifted by LeBron James' pregame pep talk ahead of his Los Angeles Lakers debut.

Doncic played 24 minutes and finished with 14 points on his Lakers bow on Monday, helping his new team to a 132-113 win over the Utah Jazz.

It was Doncic's first game since he had featured on Christmas Day for the Dallas Mavericks.

In the Lakers' pregame huddle, veteran James was heard telling Doncic to "be your f****** self...  Don't fit in, fit the f*** out. Be yourself."

For Doncic, it was all the motivation he needed.

"For him to say something like that just feels amazing," Doncic said.

"It gives me confidence. And after that speech, it [gave me] chills. I was just happy to be a part of it.

"I was a little bit nervous before [the game]. I don't remember the last time I was nervous before the game. But once I stepped on the court, it was fun. And just being out there again felt amazing.

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"Since I came here, I just wanted to play with them. Every game I saw, they played amazing, very connected, and for me, I just [wanted] to be there with them.

"It's a new team. New everything. But the way they helped me, it was just a lot of support for me. You could see when I came to the arena, I saw all the Luka jerseys. It was just a surreal feeling."

James top-scored for the Lakers with 24 points, adding either eight assists and seven rebounds. Austin Reaves finished with 22 points, nine rebounds and four assists.

Lakers coach JJ Redick was impressed with how his star players combined.

"I thought our three main guys did a nice job of playing off of each other," Redick said.

"Sometimes you can have agendas in a game. I felt like this for our group was a no agenda game beyond winning a basketball game and playing the right way."