Luka Doncic is still learning how to play alongside LeBron James and Austin Reaves on the Los Angeles Lakers.
The team recently went through a three-game slump where Luka was blamed for being selfish on-ball. It’s definitely not an intentional choice by the Slovenian guard, as the Lakers are still adapting to his style of play. He might wind up being LeBron James’ greatest teammate and is already being looked at as a potential successor to LeBron in the Lakers locker room.
Doncic is still adapting to his teammates in LA, although the team has been successful. They picked up a 120-119 win over the Indiana Pacers, where Luka led both teams in scoring. Even though LeBron scored the game-winner, Doncic was the star.
The narrow win proves everything isn’t perfect for LA just yet. However, that’s exactly what Doncic is working on.
Luka Doncic admits he’s still adapting to his teammates
Luka Doncic is one of the most gifted players in the NBA right now. However, championships aren’t won on the basis of talent alone. Doncic needs to adjust to playing alongside two other great on-ball options like LeBron James and Austin Reaves.
Doncic admitted he’s still adjusting to playing alongside those two options in his post-game media press conference after the Pacers’ win.
“I think for me it is a lot of work to do. To understand what the guys like, what those two guys want. AR and LeBron been playing three-four years together, so they know each other a little bit more.
“I gotta watch film and adapt to the situation.”
Luka has proved his portability in the past. He revamped his playstyle to accommodate Kyrie Irving and other teammates on the Mavericks last season, going all the way to the NBA Finals. He’s been a lot more on-ball heavy on the Lakers, but if that works for LA, that’s what they should stick to.
Speaking about the win, he admitted, “We needed this one badly,” commenting that he was “relieved and happy” when LeBron tipped his shot in.
Luka’s stats on the Lakers show he’s still dominant
This has been an incredibly tough season for Doncic. His routines of nearly seven years in Dallas were broken without as much as a phone call by the Mavericks. He was injured at the time and had to accelerate his return to help the Lakers on their postseason push.
Despite a slow start, Doncic has found his groove and has been dominating recently. He’s averaged 27.6 points, 8.5 rebounds, and 7.8 assists over 19 games on the Lakers, with 32.8 points, 7.5 rebounds, and 6.8 assist-averages in the last four contests.
The Lakers need to find a consistent winning formula, but Doncic has lived up to the hype. He might even be overperforming defensively, leading the Lakers in defensive rating for the month of March.
If he can keep up this level of production, the Lakers could be legitimate title contenders this season. There are still holes in the rotation for them to fill out, but a talented trio like Luka, LeBron, and Austin might be able to take them to the mountaintop.
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