The Los Angeles Lakers have the fourth-best record in the NBA regular season so far. Yet, the team has been subjected to intense scrutiny, and their flaws have been discussed endlessly. Their stars are being criticized regularly, and now LeBron James has taken a subtle shot at Luka Doncic.
Luka’s lack of defense is the biggest black mark against him, but his offense has also been questioned this year. Heavy isolation ball, inefficient play, and turnovers have all been issues. And while discussing the Lakers’ struggles recently, LeBron spoke about some of those issues.
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LeBron James says the days of one player holding the ball and ISO all game isn’t the way to win anymore
“It’s a numbers game. How can you start the blender. Is the Blender being started with the pass and cut. Is it what the Miami Heat are doing? Or is it what the Lakers are… pic.twitter.com/xd8CJcG1HD
— Heat Central (@HeatCulture13) January 6, 2026
“Now, you know, there’s so many different ways to get the ball out of a guy’s hands if he’s just sitting there ISO on the wing,” James said on the Mind The Game Podcast. “You can flood the whole side and bring another guy to the elbow. You could literally run a guy and just go trap them.
“That’s the game. It’s the numbers game. How can you start the blender? Is the blender being started by the pass? Is it pass and cut? Is it what the Miami Heat are doing, or is it what the Lakers are doing, where we start a lot of our plays with pick and roll because we have such a dynamic pick and roll player in Luka?”
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Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic and forward LeBron James react. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
The suggestion is that the league may have evolved beyond Doncic’s primary style of play. While James is making a larger point, it’s easy to see how it can be perceived as a shot at Luka. To call that style of play ‘not winning basketball’ is certainly a big statement to make.
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