A lot of the King’s success came from who he played along, and the February trade raised a big question. But the Lakers have their IT factor back. Luka Doncic brought his bag to LA, and the Lakers found something they weren’t even looking for. All the cry was for the Lakers to get a big man to support Anthony Davis. Instead, they got the magic trick to fully unlock LeBron James. At 40, the King needed that support and the Slovenian is providing him more than that. The transformation from a cappella group to an orchestra was a change no one saw coming, probably even LeBron himself didn’t, leading to a career confession like never before.

Choosing his revived Mind The Game podcast for some revelations was anticipated. And the first episode of it, now with Steve Nash, delivered exactly what they promised — food for thought. If you expected it to be a hot-take-filled, agenda-mongering show, then you’re in for a disappointment. It was LeBron’s unapologetic message to everyone that ‘we don’t do that here, go to that other network.’ Here, he is only to elevate his current teammates, constructively pointing out what makes them tick. So he did by confessing to something he never had the luxury of.

“It’s a switch league,” Bron told Nash, explaining how he has adapted to play alongside Doncic. In an unwritten code of brotherhood, LeBron, arguably the greatest of all time, is putting someone else at the forefront of a charge, a trait that was never displayed by him in the past 22 years. “To be able to pick and slip or pick and hit the short roll now what I do best is even more unlocked,” James said. The production team decided to leave a note at the bottom of the screen to explain what ‘short roll’ is. It was explained as rolling fully to the rim, the screener stops near the elbow/free throw line in the created space, where the ball handler then passes to them so they can catch “on the short roll.”

So LeBron is now in a position to get a pocket pass as a 4, where he’s “gotten the ball from Luka in the pocket or AR in the pocket. Now I get to read and decide what these three defenders are going to guard me with the ball, two guys in a corner and a big and a dunker or smaller dunker.” If you haven’t imagined the scene yet, watch it here. And that’s when the trouble starts for the opponents. Because, in LeBron’s words, that’s when he’d “pick you apart,” instead of always having to be at the head of the play. “Now all eyes are on me, and it’s a five-on-five game.”

Doncic’s ability to manipulate the defense was also praised by Bron. When the ball is swung back at him by Doncic, who’s being double-teamed indiscriminately by all the teams, LeBron gets one-on-one with a player closing him, and that “doesn’t happen too much in my career for 22 years.” This connection with Luka Doncic reminded LeBron of a former teammate as he went on diving further into the details.

Connection with Luka Doncic reminded LeBron James of a former teammate

You need to take another birth to play with 35% of all the NBA players ever played in the league! 22 years is a long time to play with a vast pool of talent. Among them, not many shone in a similar light as LeBron James and understandably so. But Luka Doncic is a generational star, a name to feed generations. And more often than not, this type of talent finds a way to co-exist with another of the same kind. Doncic and LeBron are showing that regularly when it’s becoming a customary thing — the full-court pass. Doncic getting the ball off the rebound in transition is enough for him to throw a QB-esque pass to LeBron for a flush. And that reminds LBJ of his Cleveland buddy, Kevin Love.

“It’s extremely fun as far as the full-court passing things, being able to run. I haven’t had it since Kevin Love,” LeBron said during the episode. Doncic is someone who can visualize the pass before getting the ball into his hand in such situations. “Being a former (wide) receiver in high school, kind of seeing the ball come and not showing my hand to the cornerback, I learned that a lot from Randy Moss when I was growing up,” LeBron explained.

Giving the example of the Nuggets game on Feb 22, LeBron detailed the play where he was open for a pass but did not raise his hand. Michael Porter Jr. was in pursuit of him, so the veteran chose to keep his hands down until the very end. Luka instinctively identified the run and made no mistake in finding his receiver. Certainly, Love would hear about the comparison, and that might just as well give us another of his famous social media posts. And we’re all in for it, just like the Lakers fans’ desire to see a deep playoff run and probably something more.