Much of the focus when the Los Angeles Lakers take on the Dallas Mavericks goes towards Luka Doncic playing his former team after the shocking trade that occurred last season. However, there are a ton of ties between these two franchises with LeBron James being at the center of a lot of them.
Obviously the Lakers had to send away both Anthony Davis and Max Christie in the Doncic trade, so those are a couple of former teammates. Additionally, former Lakers point guard D’Angelo Russell signed with the Mavericks this offseason to help replace the loss of the injured Kyrie Irving, another former teammate of LeBron’s
Add in the coaching staff led by former Lakers assistant Jason Kidd and featuring numerous staff members who were part of the 2020 Championship team and it makes for a lot of potential storylines. And James admitted that for himself personally, there’s a lot of emotion when facing off against all of them.
“No, of course, going against your old team, you know, your old teammates, your old coaching staff,” LeBron said. “Won a championship with Frank Vogel, J-Kidd, obviously Phil Handy’s over there, Mike Pemberthy. My teammates in AD, DLo, Max [Christie]. Won another championship with Kyrie [Irving]. So like, you look over that for me personally, obviously, the emotion that’s always gonna carry that for me for sure.”
With that many people whom he has built relationships with now in Dallas it’s impossible for James not to deal with some emotions when facing the Mavericks. Most important, however, is channelling those emotions and he and the rest of the Lakers were able to do that in their 10-point victory.
Still getting his wind back since his return from injury, LeBron finished with just 13 points, but he also added five rebounds and seven assists. Meanwhile, Doncic had another stellar performance against his former team with 35 points and 11 assists. Davis finished with 12 points, five rebounds and three blocks in his first game back from a calf strain while Christie added 13 points as well.
The Lakers and Mavericks are always gonna be linked thanks to this historic trade, but there are so many other things tying these two franchises together and James is at the forefront of a lot of them.
Lakers’ LeBron James focused on winning regardless of role
One of the questions with LeBron James returning to the lineup was how he would fit in with this Lakers team that had established a different pecking order with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves leading the way. But the superstar insists that he is focused more on winning than anything else.
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