After defeating the Clippers, LeBron James beamed with confidence as he answered the reporters. I mean, why wouldn’t he? The 40-year-old literally got one of the best active players as a teammate in the middle of the season. Above all, with a 5-game winning streak, the Lakers are poised to clinch the 2nd seed in the coming weeks. Indeed, it amounts to an unexplainable amount of confidence, and riding on it, James put forward a unique threat to 17 NBA franchises.

Why only 17 franchises? Well, it’s simple logic. The LA side has 24 games left in its regular season schedule, in which it will face 17 franchises in the remaining two months. Now, let’s look at how power has shifted in the last few weeks. A month ago, JJ Redick’s team was barely floating in the 6th seed, struggling with inconsistency on the offensive end.

Initially, Rob Pelinka roped in defensive assets like Dorian Finney-Smith and Shake Milton, which immediately impacted the team’s performance. As the basketball pundits say, the Lakers’ offense fed off its defensive brilliance. Following that, the Purple & Gold received global attention after trading in Luka Doncic. Guess what? The Lakers transformed into a powerhouse side. However, LeBron James isn’t entirely satisfied.

“We’re in a good place, but we’re not comfortable at all,” said Bron at the post-game presser. Interestingly, it wasn’t a direct message but a loaded statement with a ton of subtext. In short, it’s a warning. Why will a team be uncomfortable while it’s poised to clinch the 2nd seed? The superstar indirectly answered, saying, “We haven’t played our best game… It’s always very important to being able to keep going in this league too. To have that type of luck too, so see what happens.” 

So, the message to the 17 franchises that will face the Lakers in the coming weeks is to be ready to face the best version of the Luka-Bron era. Above all, the superstar gave a heads-up on what to expect as well.

LeBron James revealed the Lakers’ biggest strength in the Luka Doncic era

In the least expected fashion, the Lakers regained all their strength after the blockbuster trade. Yet, the Akron Hammer doesn’t consider the Slovenian guard as the team’s biggest strength. Speaking to the press, he added, “We are at this point, you know, we hang our hat on our defense.”

Defense is something that Luka Doncic was often criticized for. Despite the all-around effort he manages to put up on the offensive end, the 26-year-old isn’t a great defender. However, in LeBron James’ books, a great defense will ultimately facilitate a guy like Doncic. I am repeating it once more. The Lakers’ offense can feed off its defensive ability. 

In King James’ words, “Can’t always you obviously understand or know what’s going to happen offensively as far as you’re shooting or whatever the case may be and obviously we didn’t shoot the ball well tonight or as well as we would like to but defensively is where we hang our hat give us a chance to win every night.” 

So, the bottom line is that the Lakers would ride their luck with their defensive ability. Do you think it’s enough to win a ring this season? Let us know in the comments below.