Ahead of his first game against his former team, Lakers star Luka Doncic is more inspired than ever to play some of the best basketball of his young career. According to ESPN’s Dave McMenamin, LeBron James is also doing what he can to maximize Luka’s effectiveness.
“I’ve worked on my outside shot and my catch-and-shoot game for quite a while now to be able to sync up with someone like Luka,” James told ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
As a Laker, Doncic is slowly but surely acclimating to his new environment and after a couple of rough games, he finally found his rhythm in a blowout win over the Nuggets (32 points and 10 rebounds). In LeBron James’ eyes, the key to further success is playing around Doncic’s superior playmaking.
“That’s a beautiful thing,” James said. “And for our guys to have two guys that are like Luka and myself always trying to find guys and pinpoint guys, I think it’s going to be beneficial for us.”
As he’s gotten older, LeBron James has been pushing the Lakers to add more depth in the backcourt and bring in a floor general who could run the offense. It took years and various failed attempts, but they finally struck gold with Doncic, who is the perfect modern point guard to inherit the Lakers empire.
The trade fundamentally shifts the Lakers’ timeline but also their entire identity. With his skillset, Doncic needs the ball in his hands and he needs the freedom to make decisions on the fly about when to pass, when to score, and when to look for the foul. For a man of his talents, even LeBron James is willing to change his game to fit a new role.
In the past, LeBron has been the primary initiator on offense and the entire game plan has been centered around him. With the Cavaliers, Heat, and early Lakers days, LeBron was always in control, making plays and setting the table for others with career averages of 27.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 7.4 assists per game on 51.8% shooting.
The addition of Luka Doncic (in exchange for Anthony Davis) may have compromised the Lakers’ defense but it gave them a franchise face and leader for the next 10 years. Besides being an unmatched scorer and ball handler, Luka’s court vision is one of the few in the league that’s comparable to LeBron’s.
For his career, Luka (25) is averaging 28.6 points, 8.7 rebounds, and 8.2 assists per game on 46.9% shooting. Since the trade, Doncic has been slow to get into a scoring rhythm but his best Lakers game yet was on Saturday, when he dropped 32 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists against the Nuggets.
For the showdown against Dallas tonight, Luka is expected to bring his all and you can bet LeBron James will look to defer more to his newest teammate than we’ve seen before. Because, as he’s made abundantly clear, the Lakers are Luka Doncic’s team now and he’s just along for the ride.
This season, despite the lack of a proper center rotation, Luka believes that this group can win it all and LeBron James is showing that he’s still able to produce at an elite All-Star level.
In perhaps the final act of his career, LeBron James must learn to adapt and act as if he’s no longer the best player on the team. Fortunately, he’s been preparing for this exact scenario and he’s more than ready to hand the reins to No. 77.
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