LeBron James and Luka Doncic look like candidates again

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On LeBron James’40. Birthday just over two months ago, gave a very sincere assessment Los Angeles Lakers.

“Are we at the championship level?” James asked December 30. “Can we win the championship right away? No, I don’t think so. But that’s good because we have so many places to improve.”

Things have since changed dramatically.

Lakers traded to Anthony Davis for Luka Doncicadding a top-three player in the league to their list. They won eight games in a row for the first time since 2020, when they won their last championship. They climbed from a potential playing in sitting second in the western conference with a 40-21 record. And during their last 14 games, they had the best defense in the league.

James changed his mind now.

“With a full group, we can get out and compete with anyone,” James said on Tuesday.

The king returned.

And the NBA -that the premiere franchise rolled.

Where the Lakers Hollywood season lands them to Nick’s 1. NBA layers 2025 | First things first

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The last few weeks, the Lakers have been a team that will watch, emphasized by their 113-109 Overtime Win against New York Knicks Thursday. The Lakers returned from a 13 -point deficit, and James finished 31 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and Doncic added 32 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists.

During the recent hot duration of the Lakers, all but two of their eight wins came against teams with a .500 or better record.

Improvement of Lakers was astronomical. They crossed from the 26th place in the league in defense ratings through their first 23 games, to the league lead in that category during the last month. This encouraged them by gaining Dorian Finney-Smithas well as the addition of Doncius, who released James to pour on that side of the court. It is crazy that the defense of the Lakers improved without Anthony Davis, who was a perennial candidate for a defensive player of the year.

But this obviously can happen when one of the biggest players of all time gets a racing partner who is a generational talent. They pull the best into each other. Inspire each other.

When the store happened, who knew he would go in that direction?

At that time there was real questions about whether it could actually work. Both types love the ball in their hands.

Not to mention, James did not consult about the store, had to say goodbye to his good friend Davis and had to wrap his head around Lakers who were not his Team, a heavy pill to swallow a player who rightly gained control of every team he played for.

Then Doncic, who was devastated, was shameful – the fact that Mavericks was ready to deal with him. There was an unprecedented team that would trade at the then 25-year-old Megastar. Doncic had to deal with the relegation of this, including all the narratives that leaked to the media about his questions of fitness and discipline.

But the pairing of James-Doncice was noisy.

James accepted Doncic. And Doncic blossomed, even already cemented in the Lakers history books, becoming the only player together with James, Jerry West and Magic Johnson, who had a 15 -point appearance in a regular part of the season or playoffs on New Orleans on Tuesday, an assistant of 15 points.

“I’m a natural receiver and he’s a natural striker, so he fits perfectly,” James said.

The acquisition of Doncius obviously amazed James’ fire.

In December, he went from ridicule for lack of 20 direct 3-pointer, with some experts invite him to stop embarrassing himself and going to retirement, to now be considered a legitimate candidate for a MVP in a team that has a real chance to go all the way.

James still defy his father. In fact, since the age of 40, he scored 26.5 points on average, 8.3 rebounds and 8.3 assistants, which is an almost identical number when he last won the 2013 MVP Award (26.8 points, eight rebounds and 7.3 assists). Not to mention, James was also a defensive Linchpin, and Lakers JJ Redick coach recently said he was playing at the level of all defense.

As for Doncev, he laughs. He complains of traffic, like a real Angelena. And no longer bothering because the Mavericks broke with him. No matter how injured he was, there was no way he couldn’t enjoy it.

“I think we’re all well connected,” Doncic said on Thursday. “I’m so excited to be part of this team.”

With James and Doncic on the ground, the defense simply has no good possibilities. Both are needed by double teams. Someone will be open. This creates a nightmare for opposing teams.

And James enjoyed the rest of the league every moment of a non -native disaster.

“I think there was a game against the Clippers in which they shone on the top of the key and he swung me,” James said, referring to the game last weekend. “I was in the groove, he swung me and I started reading. And then I managed to find Gabe (Vincent) for a wide open 3 because they were radiant and it was a game with numbers.

“So it’s some kind of poison when you have two brains when it comes to playing basketball on the floor.”

Now the Lakers could actually be candidates. It’s exciting for a league that struggled for viewership. The 17-plow championship Lakers gave NBA infusions IV, transforming the level of excitement from black and white to Technicolor.

At this point, it is fair to wonder if the success of the team can affect James’s career longevity.

Although he claimed that there was probably only a season or two before retiring – and insisted that playing together with Doncic would not change his plans – if he had the right to compete for his fifth or sixth ring, do you think he would leave?

No way.

James knows something or two about winning. He won four championships with three different franchises, including Miami Heat (2012 and 2013) Cleveland Cavaliers (2016) and Lakers (2020). And he made 10 appearances in the NBA final, including eight in a series of 2011-2018.

And now he believes that the Lakers can compete against anyone.

For the other 29 teams in NBA, this must be disturbing.

Melissa Rohlin is NBA writer for Fox Sports. Earlier covered the league for Sports Illustrated, Los Angeles Times, News Group for Bay Area and San Antonio Express-nws. Follow her on Twitter @Melisarohlin.

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