DALLAS (105.3 The Fan) - LeBron James and Luka Doncic have been teammates in three straight All-Star games, but could 'The King' and Doncic become teammates more frequently in the future?
James recently made the declaration that Steph Curry would be the No. 1 player he’d like the play alongside in the NBA, outside of his son, Bronny.
But according to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, we should be focusing more on James' affinity for Doncic and his desire to team up with the Mavs superstar before he hangs up his sneakers.
"This is something that's gone back before last season. Steph was a pretty serious rival of LeBron's, and all of a sudden he changed his tone, and I think it was related to the fact that Stephen was an upcoming free agent. Subsequently, he signed a massive contract to pretty much end his career in Golden State. So, I'm not so focused on that. ... I would say something else, though. As part of this answer, and LeBron was having fun here, to be clear, he wasn't making a declarative statement. He talked about how much he admires Luka Doncic. And that is something that you should put in your back pocket. Don't ever judge LeBron 100-percent on his words. Judge him on his actions. The best way you can say, see how LeBron feels about people, is who he drafts in his All-Star Draft. He has drafted Luka Doncic all three years he's been an All-Star. He tried to recruit him to his brand within Nike a few years ago. Luka picked the Jordan brand, instead. He, I think, would also love to play with Luka. And in the fantasy world ... that is something I think is more worthy of having a discussion about as opposed to Steph - down the line, I don't think LeBron is going anywhere in the short term.
The Mavs are headed to the postseason for the third straight season with Doncic at the helm. Meanwhile, the Lakers failed to qualify for the playoffs and the play-in tournament. It's expected that there will be another mass roster shift, that may or may not include their coach Frank Vogel, or even their GM Rob Pelinka, who bears a lot of the blame for the construction of the 2021-22 Lakers squad.
James currently has one more year left on his deal with Los Angeles worth $44 million.
