Inside the first 24 days of the Luka Dončić era with the Los Angeles Lakers - ESPN

Luka Dončić's tenure with the Los Angeles Lakers began with a whirlwind 72 hours. From the time he was sprung from sleep by a call from an associate on Saturday, Feb. 1, informing him he was being traded from the Dallas Mavericks to being introduced as the Lakers' latest star three days later, it was nonstop.

Dončić boarded a private jet from Dallas to L.A. on Sunday evening — along with Maxi Kleber, who was also part of the deal. Rob Pelinka, the Lakers' vice president of basketball operations and general manager, met them at the airport. Then Dončić was whisked away to the Waldorf Astoria hotel in Beverly Hills, where Lakers coach JJ Redick made a late-night visit, welcoming his former teammate whom he'd now be calling plays for.

Monday opened with an 8 a.m. appointment at UCLA, where Dončić underwent an extensive physical examination, sources told ESPN, leaving the Lakers confident that the left calf strain that had sidelined Dončić since Christmas Day could be managed. Dončić then went from UCLA to El Segundo to tour the Lakers' practice facility, where he spent more time with Pelinka and Redick.

Meanwhile, the Lakers scrambled to roll out the welcome wagon for the 25-year-old basketball prodigy. On Sunday morning, equipment manager Brian Cuatt reached out to a local uniform finisher in Santa Fe Springs to get Dončić's No. 77 jersey stitched and ready for the guard's arrival. (Complete with a caron over the first «c» and accent over the second «c» in his last name — an update to the lettering kit from when Sasha Vujačić played for L.A. but his uniform just had «Vujacic» stitched on the back.)

Though Cuatt had Dončić's jersey and shorts pressed and ready in his locker by the time of the tour, there was one highlight