For much of last season, especially after the Lakers went on their wild run of 16 wins in 18 games starting in late February and rolling all through March, the feeling coming out of Los Angeles was that, while it was a nice NBA fantasy drill to consider that LeBron James would leave behind Luka Doncic and his team, in the end, the group will stay together and give it another go in 2026-27. It wasn’t until the summer pressed on that it became clearer that the team wanted to move in a different direction, that it wanted to bring in players better suited to accentuate Doncic’s skills, and that James would not be part of that.
It was not the most elegant of departures. But it was probably the best move for a franchise that was stuck between the LeBron James past and the Luka Doncic future, and needed to pick a lane.
LeBron James and Luka Doncic Spoke After Departure
Once the decision was made, Doncic said, James reached out to him, and he reached back. Mostly because of health issues, and the fact that the team had been thrown together on the fly a year earlier with the stunning trade to the Lakers from the Mavericks, Doncic and James had never really found their groove on the court. They were not pals off the court, either, but there was a solid teammate relationship and a lot of respect.
Said Doncic, in an interview with Sports Illustrated, “I reached out to him, you know. Thank you for everything. You know, it was obviously amazing being his teammate. I learned so many things.”
Asked about dealing with the pressure of leading the Lakers in James’ absence, Doncic said, “They’re gonna say there is a lot more pressure. But it’s not pressure. It’s an honor.”
Lakers Never Coalesced
Doncic and the Lakers are looking ahead, but there is still a bit of regret that obviously remains–the team was never healthy at once in the year-and-a-half in which Doncic, James and Austin Reaves were on the same roster. The 16-2 stretch was one of the few times, and it looked like the Lakers might make themselves a formidable team.
“We didn’t really get time to practice or get to know each other or how we wanted to play,” Doncic told SI.
“He just let me be me, and I really respect that,” he added. “And the way he approached the game with us, it was unbelievable. It was very respectable. I had so much fun playing with him. And, like I said, I think we could have made some noise in the playoffs if me and AR don’t get injured. I think we had a chance.”
Lakers’ Luka Doncic Reveals Message to LeBron James After Exit