After Luka Doncic and LeBron James joined forces, any time the on-court product was not quite what it needed to be, chatter about the two big names not fitting together well or not liking each other always managed to creep into the background. It was weird. It was also just not true.
Dave McMenamin offered up a key lookahead to the Los Angeles Lakers offseason on Thursday morning. In the section discussing James' free agency decision, the ESPN reporter delivered a vital piece of sourced information regarding the relationship between LeBron and Luka.
McMenamin wrote: "LeBron rocks with Luka,' one source close to James told ESPN, so continuing to be asked by [JJ] Redick to play a complementary role next to Doncic does not figure to be a sticking point in James' decision-making."
Assuming the source is reliable in their assessment, that message should officially put to rest the idea of Doncic and James not liking each other in whatever capacity. That should only make the Lakers offseason that much easier when it comes to putting the pieces back together.
Lakers can feel comfortable running back Luka Doncic and LeBron James
James' future has been one of the hottest topics in Los Angeles during the lead-up to free agency. Some have tried to really magnify the threat of the Golden State Warriors as a suitor for the 41-year-old. However, even the Warriors themselves have been rumored to believe LeBron is returning to the Lakers.
The question there is: Why not?
There was a clear formula established down the stretch of the season by Redick that worked with managing the three stars. To circle back to what McMenamin said, there should be minimal to no issues when it comes to LeBron deferring to Luka.
Again, why would there be?
When it was James and Anthony Davis as the star duo in Los Angeles, LeBron was waiting to pass the torch. The four-time NBA Finals MVP spent one too many years as the best player on his team. Despite that, the aging star continued to hold that distinction and those responsibilities.
Doncic's arrival changed that. Luka is definitively one of the five-best players in the world. His MVP-level play gives James the type of talent he has not been partnered with since the early years of Dwyane Wade in Miami.
At this stage of his career, that means a whole lot more for LeBron, too. When it was Wade, or even Davis, as the supporting act, James was still one of the top dogs in the NBA. As good as he still is now, the Lakers star has showed his age a lot more of late.
Doncic gives James the opportunity to enjoy a significantly lessened burden on the offensive end. Where would the tension be in that sort of great environment? That is a rhetorical question for anyone that may be confused.
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