There was a point in the career of LeBron James when you could roll him out with four other guys off the street and the all-time great could drag them to competent NBA play. That is no longer the case for the Los Angeles Lakers superstar.
James will be 41 years old in December and the task of elevating the Lakers bench should not be falling on his shoulders alone. Not anymore.
The outlier stat of how poor LeBron's on/off numbers looked as a result of carrying those responsibilities in 2024-25 proves it. That is what has led to a majority of the insufferable narratives about his player quality that are around today.
The all-time great is still an elite talent and one of the 10 best players in the NBA. However, at this late stage of his career, he is no longer the undeniable floor raiser that can do the impossible.
Lakers bench has a new leader they can turn to
Jovan Buha, too, pointed out the need for James to be properly deployed on a recent episode of his podcast. The Lakers reporter highlighted the shortcomings of the strategy in 2024-25 and how the team can pivot.
Buha said, "One thing we saw progressively throughout the course of the season that JJ [Redick] and the coaching staff realized was that LeBron needs a little bit more help offensively in some of these bench groups. ... To support LeBron, you probably need to put Austin [Reaves] out there."
Buha danced around the real solution here for the woeful bench. If any of the Lakers big three is to be left to fend for themselves with four bench players, it should be Luka Doncic.
The Lakers reporter mentioned the minutes with Doncic and the bench last year did not look all too great either. However, that was a different version of Luka. It was a version of the superstar point guard who was recovering from injuries and the mental toll of a shocking relocation.
Doncic is quickly proving at EuroBasket 2025 that his best self is back. The Lakers superstar is backpacking a largely underwhelming national team far beyond what they should be capable of.
That sure does sound like a player built to elevate a group of bench players who need to feed off his superstardom.
Doncic has proven himself a capable floor raiser during his time with the Dallas Mavericks. If there is someone who needs to be inheriting those duties from James, it is undoubtedly the Slovenian superstar.