Outside of the 2019-20 season, the upcoming 2025-26 season might represent LeBron James’ best chance to win one more title.
James has the luxury of playing second banana to Luka Doncic, a position he’s never been in before as he’s historically been the best player on his team. However, Doncic’s presence means James can throttle back a bit during the regular season and allow his co-star to dominate touches.
While James acknowledges his retirement is coming at some point, he’s still playing at a high enough level that Los Angeles can talk themselves into being title contenders.
Besides Doncic, James will have a better supporting cast in the form of Marcus Smart, Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia. At Lakers Media Day, James talked about his new teammates and what they bring to the table.
“And Jake. Just adding those three guys, competing against those guys for years. And obviously we know the matchups that I had with Marcus over the years, especially when we was in the Eastern Conference him in Boston, me in Cleveland and just all those matchups that we had. Happy to have him. I know what he brings to the game. I know that team is first, second, third, fourth, fifth when it comes to Marcus Smart,” James said.
“Adding a big guy like DA. His skillset is very high. His athleticism is high, so I think he adds another dynamic to our team along with Jaxson. That’ll be a great one-two punch at our center position. “And then adding a wing like Jake. A big wing who can shoot the ball, can handle the ball, but his toughness. Sneaky athletic as well.
“It’s going to be great for our ball club and I’m just happy…looking forward to seeing how it comes together. The best thing about it we have a full year starting up with training camp. I think that’s going to be very good for our ball club going into this year.”
All three of Smart, Ayton and LaRavia are expected to play important roles either as starters or bench players for head coach JJ Redick because they each have specific skillsets that complement Doncic and James. On paper the fit looks great, but it’ll be up to James and company to make it work once they hit the hardwood.
Rob Pelinka reiterates Lakers would ‘love’ for LeBron James to retire with franchise
Rob Pelinka has been non-committal about LeBron James’ future in Los Angeles but he reiterated that the Lakers would love to see him retire with the franchise.
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