Days after the Lakers acquired G Luka Dončić, ESPN “altered” its weekend lineup, with the network “moving off” the previously scheduled Jazz-Suns game to “highlight” the Lakers-Pacers game this Saturday, according to Tom Tapp of DEADLINE. That 4pm ET contest at Crypto.com Arena is “expected to be Dončić’s debut” with the Lakers. It will also be available on ESPN+ and Disney+. Dončić had been sidelined in Dallas recently with a “nagging calf strain,” and so he missed the Lakers game against the cross-town rival Clippers on Tuesday night. There had “been speculation” about when Dončić would play his first game given the injury, but the ESPN “schedule swap is a pretty good indication that he will, indeed, play on Saturday.” Tapp: “Expect big ratings.” Another ratings “bonanza” should be the Lakers’ next game against the Mavericks on Feb. 25. That one will air on TNT (DEADLINE, 2/5).
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PUT IT ON A BILLBOARD: In Dallas, Kellen Bulger reported on Monday, Mavericks fan Jacob Posner posted a GoFundMe campaign to “raise money for anti-Nico Harrison and Adelson family billboards to be shown outside of American Airlines Center in Dallas.” In just 48 hours time, the campaign “amassed well over $17,000, with the top contributor having donated $500.” Posner on the page “even included a map of available billboards around American Airlines Center and a budget breakdown of the cost for making the billboards a reality.” He estimates that it “will take $82,600″ (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/5).
ERASED FROM THE CALENDAR: Bulger in a separate piece noted the day after the Dončić trade, Dallas “already started adjusting to life without the superstar,” but on the team’s calendar, they still had listed “Slovenian Night” for Mar. 21 when the Pistons came to town. The Mavericks' night to honor the native Balkan country of Dončić “would have been the fourth iteration.” The team since “have scrubbed Slovenian Night from their scheduled theme nights on their website’s calendar” (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/5).
