The talk of a championship in Los Angeles has flooded all circles of the NBA community. The volume of that chatter has fluctuated since the Luka Doncic trade. However, it has remained consistently present.
With the return of the Mind the Game podcast featuring LeBron James and his new partner, Steve Nash, that was a topic which was bound to surface. James believed there is one key narrative that he and the Los Angeles Lakers are ready to challenge this season.
James believes in Lakers' ability to reach the NBA mountaintop this year
Nash brought up a talking point with James surrounding the idea of winning a championship the same season of an in-season blockbuster trade. Many skeptics believe that feat is difficult to achieve. Teams need time before they can truly contend. LeBron did not think that was the case.
"They're wrong," James confidently said of the naysayers who do not believe in the quick turnaround for a championship victory.
"it's very challenging, especially mid-season, because, you really start the season in September and you start to implement what you want to do offensively, [and] what you want to do defensively. ... The premise and the staple of what you want to do ... is put in place."
James went onto talking about the challenges that both the Lakers and Dallas Mavericks are expected to have with properly implementing their new superstars into the fold. Getting Doncic properly situated offensively was the main focal point of what the 21-time All-Star thought the Lakers' biggest obstacle will continue to be.
"We have to change our whole thing," James said. "[It's] completely different because Luka needs the ball. He has to have the ball. It makes no sense of bringing in Barry Bonds if we're not going to have him bat clean."
Nash brought up the first victory over the Denver Nuggets as a key time in which he thought the Lakers had an opportunity to 'buck this trend of being difficult' to win the title in the same season as a blockbuster move before the NBA trade deadline.
The reality of the matter is that Los Angeles will certainly have an uphill battle to having everything fall into place quickly, in terms of personnel, rotations, offensive sets, etc. However, it is not an impossible task.
The Lakers have already looked incredibly promising with Doncic. Even with the recent hurdles, the team is still scratching the surface of their full potential. JJ Redick and his group have proven to be adaptable amid the massive shakeup, which is a huge point of credit in their favor. Locking in on their fundamental identity as a unit for the rest of the season will decide whether James' confidence in the situation was well-placed.
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