In the wake of the Los Angeles Dodgers winning the 2024 World Series, five-time all star Luka Dončić just joined twenty-one time all star LeBron James in the Lakers, creating a dream team, with some of the best players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) being concentrated in Los Angeles.
Dončić is the latest sports superstar to end up in Los Angeles, and more and more it seems like Los Angeles is a hotspot for some of the best players in professional sports. I began to see this after Japanese baseball star Shohei Ohtani joined the Los Angeles Angels, and then moved to the Los Angeles Dodgers. So why are Los Angeles teams such a magnet for the biggest stars in sports?
The Los Angeles Lakers have had a long history of attracting superstar players, starting with one of their first big trades for basketball legend Wilt Chamberlain, 57 years ago, in 1968. Many of these superstars were traded into Los Angeles, showing how star players are often willing to be traded. Some of the most notable players are Luka Dončić, Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Pau Gasol and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar have been legendary players for the Lakers.
I see many different reasons for why the Lakers have gotten so many high quality players, one of which being the history of the franchise, with countless NBA legends. It seems that the fame associated with the franchise attracts many players to be willing to be traded to such a team, and these Los Angeles teams have built up a very strong fan base and support for the franchise. This seems to create an environment for the players to thrive in, along with the fact that Los Angeles is a large city full of celebrities, so there is a better space for many of these star players to live and find a community in, attracting the players themselves. It seems that Los Angeles is an ideal location for many of these superstars, but looking further into it, it seems there may be more reasons behind the concentration of superstar players.
The Lakers are one of the most prominent teams in the NBA, with a value of over $7 billion by Forbes, and are the third largest team in the league. They have a total of $187 million in player contracts this season, and they have the fourth highest team payroll in the NBA. The Lakers currently have two superstar players, LeBron James and Luka Dončić, both of whom are in the top 20 in the league for individual player salary.
The Los Angeles Dodgers are another powerhouse team, just coming off winning the 2024 World Series, and I think they have some of the biggest names in the MLB right now. They have Shohei Ohtani, arguably one of the best players in the MLB, who was second in home runs during the 2024 season, with 54 home runs. They also have Mookie Betts, who is a veteran and prominent name in the MLB, and attracted another Japanese baseball prodigy, Roki Sasaki, assembling an incredible and seemingly unbeatable roster.
These Los Angeles teams seem to be able to acquire some of the biggest names in the league consistently, and there are a couple main factors to this. The historic success of the franchises have led to a large fanbase and following, and so these franchises have had time to figure out how to make enough revenue in order to sustain their high payrolls. This leads to more success and renown, creating a positive cycle that promotes the teams greatly, and increases their popularity and their relevance. I think that because of this, in tandem with the franchises knowing the success of star players and being willing to spend big on big players, leads to these franchises getting superstar talent consistently.
Overall, these teams have had extreme success and fame, making a lot of money, and are able to attract elite players because of their location, renown and history of success, leading to the formation of superteams, with some of the biggest stars in the sport. This can hurt or help a sport, either creating a “Dream Team” that attracts attention, or it can create a lopsided game that drains the competition from the sport. I would say in some cases, like with the Dodgers, it can take away from the spirit of competition, with an unbeatable team emerging, but in other cases, like the Lakers, it can be more entertaining, because their powerful team is countered by the strong competition they face, creating a closer and more interesting game full of talent.
