Follow us on Google Discover Luka Doncic has flown his Los Angeles Lakers teammates to Slovenia for a five-day trip. One Slovenian outlet believes the flight alone may have cost him around a quarter of a million euros.
That is the one-way estimate. Work out the return leg and the bill could sit near half a million dollars.
The trip was built as a mix of training and bonding. Private jets, custom gift bags and dinners were part of the package, and the group has been sharing photos all week.
Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty ImagesHow much did Luka Doncic’s flight cost?
The calculation comes from Zurnal24. The outlet says the ballot traveled on a Bombardier Global 8000, a luxury business jet with charter rates starting around $18,000 per hour.
From Los Angeles to Slovenia, the flight takes roughly 13 hours. That puts the one-way cost at about a quarter of a million euros.
‘If we take into account the length of the flight from Los Angeles to Slovenia, we can conclude that Dončić paid around a quarter of a million euros for the one-way air transportation of his teammates,’ Da. B wrote for Z24.si.
The flying was only part of the experience. The five-day stay includes training sessions, fishing at Lake Bled and visits to some of Doncic’s favourite places in his home country.
Per ESPN’s Ramona Shelburne, the group will also explore Ljubljana and take part in recreational outings.
The timing is significant for the franchise. Doncic has quickly become the central figure around whom the Lakers are shaping their future, and the tidy images emerging from Slovenia reflect a group building its identity around its new star.
That point landed online when he shared a picture of the team gathered at dinner. He captioned it ‘First Supper’.
For a player of his stature, half a million dollars is not an enormous sum. The investment appears to be about more than money, sending his new teammates his country and a message about togetherness.
A good minicamp would not fix the defense or turn a talented group into a contender on its own.
But some foundations can be worth more than the flight that built them.
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