Luka-led Lakers are younger, deeper and built on connectivity: 'The best teams are the most connected teams'

"You launch a season, and there's things that happen throughout that you can't predict, but you have to stay together as a group and stay strong," Pelinka continued.

Third-year Lakers head coach JJ Redick , sitting alongside Pelinka for the preseason news conference , later referenced, more generally, the hero's journey — a narrative in which a hero overcomes adversity and evolves as a result — and how allies and guides are critical characters in that expedition.

"I think if you look at 'Lord of the Rings,' all the guys from 'The Hobbit,' those guys had to be connected," said Redick, who's coming off back-to-back 50-win campaigns at the helm.