Jaden Hardy wasted no time reconnecting with his former Dallas teammate. “I reached out to him and told him how excited I was to be back with him,” Hardy said. Luka Doncic shared that excitement and even helped his new Lakers teammate make his first big decision in Los Angeles.

“Funny story, you know, I was thinking when they sent me the list of numbers, I was going through the list, and I didn’t know what to pick,” said Hardy on the Lakers YouTube Channel. “But after speaking with Luka, and Luka was my guy, he’s 77, so I was like, ‘It’s only right I go seven.’

“So I chose seven, seeing that you know it almost feels like it was a dream come true, just like something that I honestly could dream of, and being a Laker, I’m excited for this opportunity.”

The connection between Luka Doncic and the number runs deeper than his current No. 77 jersey. At the beginning of his professional career with Real Madrid, Doncic wore No. 7 as a tribute to Greek basketball legend Vassilis Spanoulis.

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When No. 7 was not available to him with the Dallas Mavericks or the Slovenian national team, Doncic switched to No. 77. That history makes Hardy’s choice an even more fitting detail in their reunion.

The two spent nearly three seasons together in Dallas after the Mavericks acquired Hardy’s draft rights in 2022. Hardy has credited Doncic with helping him gain confidence and adjust to the NBA.

One of Hardy’s earliest memories with Luka Doncic came during his rookie season. After Hardy scored his first NBA points in a 121-100 Dallas win over the New York Knicks in 2022, Doncic went out of his way to get the game ball and present it to Hardy in the locker room.

“That was super dope for Luka for him to do that for me,” Hardy said at the time. “He didn’t have to do it. I was surprised that he got it for me, because those are good memories.”

The gesture was one of several moments that shaped Hardy’s view of Doncic as a teammate and leader. Hardy said Doncic regularly encouraged younger players, telling them to keep going and maintain their confidence.

That support was especially important during Hardy’s rookie season and continued into his second year, when Dallas made a run to the NBA Finals. Hardy said Luka Doncic became someone he could lean on during that stretch, both on and off the court.

Now, the two are getting another chance to play together, this time in Los Angeles.

When Hardy found out he was headed to the Lakers, one of his first calls was to Doncic. He told his old teammate how excited he was for the reunion and that he couldn’t wait to get back in the gym and put in work together again.

The feeling, it turns out, was mutual. Hardy said Doncic welcomed him back just as enthusiastically, and that shared history could make for a smoother transition as he settles into this next chapter in Los Angeles.

That familiarity should pay dividends on the court, too. Hardy has knocked down 38.6% of his three-point attempts for his career, giving the Lakers a reliable shooter to lean on after ranking 23rd in threes made last season.

But it’s not just the shooting that makes him valuable – Hardy already knows how to play alongside Doncic, which means Los Angeles is getting a proven weapon who won’t need time to find chemistry with their new star.