The 41-year-old superstar believes he shut his critics down amid criticisms of fit with Luka and Reaves for LA.
All season long, LeBron James is fully mindful about the murmurs, doubts and criticism regarding his fit with both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves.
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But now, in the midst of the Los Angeles Lakers' red-hot eight-game win streak, the 41-year-old superstar felt convinced enough that he proved his naysayers wrong.
"I think for us, it's always been about time. We haven't really had a lot of time to actually put in the work on the floor with one another. Obviously, we had a little bit of last year, but Luka was just getting to the team, trying to get comfortable with what we wanted to do. We were all trying to get comfortable with what all three of us wanted to do. I started the year not in the lineup. AR had a moment where he was out, so just trying to figure it out. I was out a couple weeks ago and was able to come back and see how I can best fit those guys because they were playing so dynamically off one another," he told reporters after his NBA record-tying 1,611th career game to help the Lakers' 134-126 win over the Miami Heat.
"I mean, it sells papers, clippings, and podcasts a lot easier if you say LeBron would be better off without them. A lot of people try to view it that way. I get it. They're absolutely wrong."
Injuries served as the main roadblock for the Lakers in maximizing the LeBron, Doncic and Reaves trio this season.
James missed the significant initial portion of the 2025-26 season due to sciatica on his right side. Doncic, albeit relatively available for most of the year, has his fair share of injuries from hamstring, hip, groin, quad and finger issues.
Reaves, on his end, notably missed 26 consecutive games after suffering from a Grade 2 left calf strain on Christmas Day.
But right now, as the three are all well and injury-free, the Lakers are trending in the right direction. They are one of the hottest teams in the league and are poised to finish the season in a strong fashion, currently third in the Western Conference standings with a 45-25 record.
As James silenced his critics, the Lakers can only hope their franchise trio will remain healthy heading to the NBA Playoffs.
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