While the Los Angeles Lakers have been through their fair share of ups and downs since reshaping their roster at the NBA trade deadline, it's already clear the LeBron James-Luka Doncic pairing will work just fine.
There are questions defensively, as is the case with any Doncic-led squad, but offensively the superstar duo has already made great progress on figuring out how to play together. It may feel silly to have ever questioned if two players with the remarkable combined basketball IQ of James and Doncic would mesh, but anything can happen when it comes to changes of this magnitude.
James spoke on his new partnership with Steve Nash as part of the revamped Mind The Game podcast, set to release its first episode on April 1. In a preview, Nash asked James what made him most excited about playing alongside Doncic, and the superstar offered up an in-depth, lightly NSFW explanation.
"I've always loved the players that breathe so much confidence into his teammates that make them believe that they're actually better than what the f--- they really are," James said. "You (Nash) did that, Luka has done that for seven years, Chris Paul did that when he was down there in New Orleans and doing that for that team down in New Orleans.
"I've been able to do that for a few of my teams. I don't go to the NBA Finals in 2006 with that team if I'm not able to make them believe that they're greater than what they are and just give them that confidence... Luka has that. And he learned that from growing up in Slovenia, heading over to Madrid, learning the game the right way and playing at a professional level at 13, 14 years old. He brought that same model, that same game to the NBA from Day 1."
Some guys just breathe confidence. Luka has that.
— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) March 31, 2025
Episode 1 drops TOMORROW, 9am ET.
📺: https://t.co/MTZFWW4SfT pic.twitter.com/NZTl1A6Nul
As always, it's fascinating to hear James flex his full basketball knowledge in answers like this. Very interesting content and not a necessarily surprising answer. Who doesn't love playing with Doncic when he has the ability to set you up for an easy score whenever you're open, and sometimes even when you're not?
It should prove to be great fun watching the James/Doncic partnership evolve in Los Angeles.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as LeBron James Had NSFW Explanation for Why He Was Excited to Play With Luka Doncic.
