Even before they became teammates on the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James has long been a fan of Luka Doncic. And that admiration appears to be mutual as Doncic grew up idolizing James and modeling his game after the now 40-year-old.
With that being the case, it makes sense why LeBron was a fan of Luka so early in his career as they both affect the game in similar ways.
In the new season of his “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash, James broke down what makes Doncic so special:
“Because he plays the game how I always wanted to inspire the next generation to play the game. There’s nothing predetermined. If you have two guys on you, there’s a numbers game. If you have the advantage and there’s a guy that can’t guard you or you’re able to beat him and then a guy traps the box or another guy sinks, I’m able to make the passes or make the reads before they happen. 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. You 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 with a few of my teams, I mean, 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. Just give them that confidence… And it makes them ultimately, they would do anything for you. They would run through a wall for you. We saw it unfortunately one year when one of your teammates got suspended in the postseason when you get chucked to the scorer’s table. But that’s because you’ve given them so much confidence and so much belief, if you f—ing touch Steve, I feel like you’re going after me. Y’all built that bond, you know what I’m saying? Luka has that and he learned that from growing up in Slovenia to heading over to Madrid and learning the game the right way and playing at a professional level at what, 13-14 years old? And he brought that same model and same game to the NBA from day one.”
With Doncic being just 26, the Lakers have their superstar to build around for years to come and usher in the next era when James retires.
Considering how much of an offensive load Doncic carries for the team and how rejuvenated James feels playing with him though, perhaps that extends LeBron’s career by a couple of extra years.
Lakers stars LeBron James & Luka Doncic recreated iconic Dwyane Wade photo
It hasn’t taken long for LeBron James and Luka Doncic to get as Lakers teammates, and that was on display during Saturday’s win over the Memphis Grizzlies. Doncic found James for a dunk in transition and in the process, they recreated LeBron’s iconic photo with Dwyane Wade while they were on the Miami Heat.
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