The LeBron James-Luka Doncic era in LA got off to a stellar start for the Lakers, until it was briefly put on pause.
LeBron James’ injury in the game against the Boston Celtics was a major disappointment, but the LBJ-Doncic duo have already shown the fans their potential as a duo.
In the 11 games they played together, the team have gone 8-3 – this included a seven game winning streak.
With James out, the burden of leading the team is certainly on Doncic, but the Slovenian is no stranger to that task.
His trade to the Lakers was a shocking one as he was a star on the Dallas Mavericks, and while there were some doubts about his fit with James, he has put all of that to rest with his recent performances.
One former NBA player says he was always confident about the duo, and he gave Kyrie Irving as one of the examples to show why.
Antoine Walker appeared on ‘Run it Back’ and made some strong comments on the Luka Doncic trade, pointing to a partnership LeBron James enjoyed on the Cleveland Cavaliers.
He said: “I knew it [James-Luka trade] would work because Kyrie and LeBron worked.
“Obviously they are not the same players, but two ball dominant guys, Luka and Kyrie so I knew LeBron would be able to play with Luka.”
Charles Barkley had claimed LeBron James and Luka Doncic would not be able to play together, and the pair have immediately proved him wrong.
Walker also discussed how the trade was great for the Lakers, as it will be a great future transition for them to go from James to Doncic.
“Sometimes when a guy like LeBron James, who is obviously gonna retire soon leaves your organisation it’s gonna take a couple of years to rebuild.
“Now they are in the situation where they already have this superstar in place, you can put pieces around him,” said Walker.
The Lakers have a sense of direction for the future, having previously been worried about what might happen when LeBron eventually decides to hang it up.
Many believe the Luka Doncic trade has extended LeBron’s career, although he will have the final say on how long he continues.
The scoring record holder has been in the NBA for 22 years, but even prior to that he was used to having the spotlight on him.
James revealed at 16 he dominated in a summer shootaround where Michael Jordan and other pros like Walker were present.
However, Walker who organised a lot of those runs, has come out and stated gave his version of events. He said James was not dominant as he claimed, but the players did see potential in him back then.
“He got to play towards the end of the runs, one thing is true he was able to hold his own, but you know how it is, when the first five or six games were the runs are intense and you’re going at it, he wasn’t a part of those.
“He got to play towards the end of the runs when he first came in, but you could see the potential when he first came in, but as far as dominating or anything like that, no that wasn’t the case,” he added.
