Melissa Rohlin
FOX Sports NBA Writer
On LeBron James’ 40th birthday just over two months ago, he gave a very honest assessment of the Los Angeles Lakers.
“Are we at a championship level?” James asked on Dec. 30. “Can we win a championship right now? No, I don’t think so. But that’s good because we have so much room for improvement.”
Things have dramatically changed since then.
The Lakers traded Anthony Davis for Luka Doncic, adding a top-three player in the league onto their roster. They’ve won eight games in a row for the first time since 2020, when they won their last championship. They’ve climbed from being a potential play-in team to sitting in second place in the Western Conference with a record of 40-21. And over their last 14 games, they’ve had the best defense in the league.
Now, James has changed his mind.
“With a full group, we can go out and compete versus anyone,” James said Tuesday.
The King is back.
And the NBA’s premier franchise is rolling.
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Over the last few weeks, the Lakers have been the team to watch, punctuated by their 113-109 overtime win against the New York Knicks on Thursday. The Lakers clawed their way back from a 13-point deficit, with James finishing with 31 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and Doncic adding 32 points, seven rebounds and 12 assists.
Over the Lakers’ recent hot streak, all but two of their eight wins have come against teams with a record of .500 or better.
The Lakers’ improvement has been astronomical. They went from being ranked 26th in the league in defensive rating through their first 23 games, to leading the league in that category over the last month. That was spurred by them acquiring Dorian Finney-Smith, as well as the addition of Doncic, which freed up James to pour himself into that side of the court. It’s crazy that the Lakers’ defense has improved without Anthony Davis, who has been a perennial Defensive Player of the Year contender.
But that’s apparently what can happen when one of the greatest players of all-time gets a running mate who’s a generational talent. They bring out the best in one another. They inspire each other.
When the trade happened, who knew it was going to go in that direction?
At the time, there were real questions over whether this thing could actually work. Both of those guys like the ball in their hands.
Not to mention, James wasn’t consulted about the trade, had to say goodbye to his good friend Davis and had to wrap his head around the Lakers not being his team, a tough pill to swallow for a player who has rightfully earned control over every team for which he has played.
Then there’s Doncic who was devastated — and embarrassed — by the fact that the Mavericks were willing to deal him. It was unprecedented for a team to trade a then-25-year-old megastar. Doncic had to deal with the fallout of that, including all of the narratives that got leaked to the media about his conditioning and discipline issues.
But the James-Doncic pairing has been seamless.
James has embraced Doncic. And Doncic has flourished, even already cementing himself in the Lakers’ history books by becoming the only player alongside James, Jerry West and Magic Johnson to have a 30-point, 15-assist performance in the regular season or playoffs in a win over New Orleans on Tuesday.
“I’m a natural-born wide receiver and he’s a natural-born quarterback, so it fits perfectly,” James said.
The acquisition of Doncic has clearly fanned James’ fire.
He went from being mocked in December for missing 20 straight 3-pointers, with some pundits calling for him to stop embarrassing himself and retire, to now being considered a legitimate MVP contender on a team that has a real chance to go all the way.
James continues to defy Father Time. In fact, since turning 40, he has averaged 26.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists, nearly identical numbers to when he last won the MVP Award in 2013 (26.8 points, eight rebounds and 7.3 assists). Not to mention, James has also been the team’s defensive linchpin, with Lakers coach JJ Redick recently saying he’s playing at an All-Defensive Team level.
As for Doncic, he’s laughing. He’s complaining about traffic, like a true Angeleno. And he’s no longer sulking about the Mavericks breaking up with him. No matter how hurt he was, there’s no way he couldn’t enjoy this.
“I think we’re all well-connected,” Doncic said Thursday. “So I’m excited to be a part of this team.”
With James and Doncic on the court, defenses simply have no good options. Both of those guys require double teams. Someone is going to be open. It creates a nightmare for opposing teams.
And James has been relishing every moment of the unmitigated disaster for the rest of the league.
“I think there was one play against the Clippers where they blitzed Luka at the top of the key and he swung it to me,” James said, referencing a game last weekend. “I was in the slot, he swung it to me and I started to make the reads. And then I was able to find Gabe [Vincent] for a wide open 3 because they were blitzing and it was a numbers game.
“So, it’s kind of a pick your poison when you have two brainiacs when it comes to the game of basketball on the floor at the same time.”
Now, the Lakers could actually be contenders. That’s exciting for a league that was struggling for viewership. The 17-time championship Lakers have given the NBA an IV infusion, transforming the excitement level from black-and-white to technicolor.
At this point, it’s fair to wonder whether the team’s success could affect the longevity of James’ career.
While he has maintained that he likely only has a season or two remaining before retiring — and has insisted that playing alongside Doncic won’t change his plans — if he has a real chance to compete for his fifth or sixth ring, you think he’d walk away?
No chance.
James knows a thing or two about winning. He has won four championships with three different franchises, including the Miami Heat (2012 and 2013) Cleveland Cavaliers (2016) and Lakers (2020). And he has made 10 NBA Finals appearances, including eight in a row from 2011-2018.
And he now believes the Lakers can compete against anyone.
For the other 29 teams in the NBA, this has to be unsettling.
Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.
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