Luka Doncic is now a member of the Los Angeles Lakers, and their biggest star and head coach must be delighted by that. After the Lakers traded for Doncic, a clip of LeBron James and JJ Redick speaking glowingly of the guard on the Mind the Game podcast resurfaced online.
JJ Redick: “What’s interesting about Luka I think, he’s one of the handful of guys in this era that can make any pass against a double-team. James (Harden) is one of them, you are for sure, Luka is one of them.”
LeBron James: “He’s gonna make every read. When Tim Hardaway is hitting six or seven threes, you’re done. Kyrie is going to do what Kyrie does, Luka is going to do what he does. When you get Tim Hardaway hitting six or seven threes and in our game earlier this year, we blitzed Luka and Dante Exum hit five or six threes.”
Redick: “Atlanta blitzes the most in the NBA. They decided not to blitz Luka Doncic because they were worried about the consequences, and he had 73.”
Doncic, who is averaging 28.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 7.8 assists, 2.0 steals, and 0.4 blocks per game in 2024-25, is a matchup nightmare. The former Dallas Mavericks superstar is capable of dominating games regardless of how you defend him.
Blitz Doncic and he’s going to find the open man for an easy basket but give him time and space, and he’s going to score with ease. You basically have to pick your poison when it comes to defending the 25-year-old.
James himself presents a similar problem to the opposition, and he loves the way Doncic plays the game. A clip of him speaking about the Slovenian’s game during an appearance on the Road Trippin‘ podcast in 2020 also went viral recently.
“Luka is one of my favorite players in the NBA today,” James said. “From the simple fact of, the way I play the game is exactly how I love the way he plays the game. Team first. Gets his guys involved. If you challenge me to score, I am going to score, and at the same time, I am going to keep my guys involved. I play for the team, and I’mma play with a sense of joy.
“When Luka was going through his contract negotiations with Nike… I wanted to begin Team LeBron and have Luka as my first signing with Nike,” James added.
That speaks to how highly James thought of Doncic, and he has gone from strength to strength since. The guard’s heroics on the court have led to the four-time MVP showering him with praise plenty of times.
James once called Doncic his favorite player in the NBA, and he now gets the pleasure of playing alongside him on the Lakers. These two form quite a deadly duo but it might take them a little bit of time to gel on the court.
We saw Doncic and Kyrie Irving struggling to coexist at first with the Mavericks but they figured things out over time and expect the same to happen here. It’s unclear when we’ll see them play together for the first time, as Doncic is currently recovering from a calf strain.
Thank you for being a valued reader of Fadeaway World. If you liked this article, please consider following us on Google News. We really appreciate your support.
