Since the Los Angeles Lakers acquired Luka Doncic last February, LeBron James has gone out of his way to make his new co-star feel welcome. James famously told Doncic to “fit out, not in,” and allowed the Slovenia star to be introduced last in the Lakers’ starting lineup, signaling that it was his team.
On the court, it was expected to take time for Doncic and James to build chemistry considering they are both so used to having the ball in their hands.
They are finally starting to build some synergy though, especially late in contests with their two-game game. After the Lakers’ most recent win over the New Orleans Pelicans, LeBron was asked about people saying Luka needs to bend his game to fit with him and the rest of the Lakers, but again emphasized it should be the other way around, as seen on Spectrum SportsNet:
“Luka don’t need to bend his game… He’s our [26-year-old] franchise for this ballclub. He don’t need to bend his game. It’s up to us to bend our game around him and figure it out. We’re just trying to be dynamic and work off of him. He’s an unbelievable pick-and-roll player, unbelievable shotmaker, commands the defense, four eyes, sometimes six eyes on him. So it’s up to us to put ourselves in the right position. It’s not a problem for me. It’s not an issue for me to be able to do things that, I don’t know, I just don’t think people watch basketball.”
James also discussed him and Doncic starting to build some chemistry after not having the offseason and training camp they planned for:
“The one thing that I was hoping to get was like a full summer of me being able to train and then me, Luka and AR to get a full training camp, full preseason, not saying we’re gonna play every game, but we could lock in and kind of go off where we finished last year. And because of my injury, we wasn’t able to get that, so it kind of put us behind the eight-ball. And now I start making my way back and AR (is out). It happens, but we’re just trying to weather the storm with the guys we have. Everybody is stepping up in his absence but it’s gonna start with me and Luka, for sure, every time we hit the floor. He has the ball in his hands, I’m gonna have the ball in my hands, we have to make sure we’re putting our guys in position offensively and then defensively, it’s always kind of been my voice to make sure I command and everybody knows what going on on the floor.”
The Lakers are now 13-0 in clutch games this season and a big reason for that is the ability of both James and Doncic to control games down the stretch. They are both super high IQ players and now that they finally seem to be on the same page, that could be a dangerous combo for L.A.
LeBron James & Luka Doncic in mix for NBA All-Star Game
The second voting returns for the 2026 NBA All-Star Game recently came out and Doncic continues to lead all voters while his Lakers co-stars James (8) and Austin Reaves (11) are also in the mix in the Western Conference.
Have you subscribed to our YouTube channel? It’s the best way to watch player interviews, exclusive coverage from events, participate in live shows, and more!
