The Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the more surprising teams in the NBA to start the season, sitting at 8-3. It’s been a team effort for the Lakers, with multiple players stepping up significantly.
When factoring in that LeBron James has yet to play a game, it’s impressive that the Lakers are one of the better teams not only in the Western Conference, but the entire NBA.
A lot of that falls on the shoulders of what Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves have been able to do on both sides of the basketball. Doncic is playing like an MVP candidate with 37.1 points, 9.4 rebounds, and 9.1 assists per game.
When James returns, it’ll be interesting to see how they look on the offensive side of the basketball, but some question if the fit with Doncic makes sense.
That includes former NBA champion Paul Pierce, who went on a rant about why James and Doncic can’t be on the court together when it matters most.
He even went so far as to say that when James returns from this injury, which could come soon, he'll have to come off the bench.
"When LeBron comes back, LeBron got to come off the bench," he said on the most recent episode of the "KG Certified" podcast. "The way you wanted to work, he got to come off the bench."
"Instead of you being out there with Luka, you take Luka out of the game, and now you ruin what Luka was doing," Pierce added.
While James is getting up there in age, at 40 years old and set to turn 41 on Dec. 30, it’s very unrealistic to suggest that he’ll come off the bench.
Even if the Lakers struggle a bit with him offensively, it’d make a lot more sense for him to be a starter just due to who he is.
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