The big announcement was already made. Now it’s all about setting the stage, making people want it more. That’s the sort of influence on the minds desired by LeBron James with his ‘Mind The Game’ relaunch. What set out to be a love letter to the game is set to pinch us again with an added dose of nostalgia with Steve Nash. With the past and present of the Lakers joining hands to combat a much volatile media stratosphere, the discussion about the franchise’s future was bound to happen. Luka Doncic is that future, as changes in the wind with him are already in motion.

In the trailer for the podcast’s newest instalment, LeBron and Nash set the theme of the upcoming episode — LA and Luka Doncic. What else could it be? The purple and gold are already many experts’ dark horse to go all the way, adding ring number one for Luka and number five for LeBron. To sum up how that came to be, Bron made Luka’s impact on the dressing room clear.

“I’ve always loved the players that breathe so much confidence into his teammates that make them believe that they’re actually better than what the f– they really are,” LeBron was seen telling Nash. That has been evident in the way the Lakers have played since the needle-moving trade in February. It’s all hustle, effort, playing hard for the team as the belief in the locker room reflects on the court.

Since the trade the Lakers have been on a 17-10 run with a playoff spot well in their control barring a spectacular late crash out with only 8 regular season games remaining. But JJ Redick has already laid the law for the Lakers trio of LeBron, Doncic and Austin Reaves to avoid any potential bottle job. “We challenged all three of them… to play with a little more force and a little more thrust and a little more creativity,” Redick said after the win against Grizzlies on Saturday, confirming there was indeed a meeting with the trio.

LeBron James leaves a subtle jab at former teammates

The Lakers has been the House LeBron James rules. That has always been the case no matter where he went. Or we can leave out the Heat from that list, because that’s Pat Riley’s house till the end of the days. Regardless, the point remains — LA is indeed LeBron’s team. That however, changed after the Doncic trade.

Speaking of how Doncic amped up the locker room, LeBron stated some examples as well. “You (Nash) did that. Luka has done that for seven years. Chris Paul did that when he was down there in New Orleans and doing that for that team down in New Orleans,” he added. Putting himself in the picture as well, LeBron said, “I’ve been able to do that with a few of my teams. I mean, I don’t go to the NBA Finals in 2006 with that team if I’m not able to make them believe that they’re greater than what they are.” That’s one of the mildest ways of saying he carried the Cavs to the Finals in the 2006-07 season.

That Cavs team in LeBron’s 4th year had some glue guys to rally around their young superstar. The likes of Drew Gooden, Larry Hughes, Eric Snow, Donyell Marshall, Anderson Varejão and more didn’t exactly scream basketball royalty. LeBron was averaging a monstrous 27.3 points per night to pull that team to the Finals before falling to the unstoppable Spurs.

This time around, if the Lakers reach the Finals, just somehow, then the credit will be more on Doncic than LeBron. And judging by the 40-year-old’s comments, he probably wouldn’t mind sharing that spotlight.