Draymond Green warns Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves amid LeBron James Lakers exit

With LeBron James gone, Draymond Green believes that the pressure will be imemnse for both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves in LA.

Draymond Green believes that both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves will now shoulder the immense pressure of leading the Los Angeles Lakers moving forward without LeBron James.

Position
SF

Age
41

Height
206 cm

Weight
113 kg

Birth place
Akron, United States of America

The Golden State Warriors star dropped the bold claim in the latest episode of his The Draymond Green Show.

“I think, personally, the Lakers are going to feel that next year. Even with Luka coming in and becoming the face of the organization right away, LeBron James was still there, and as long as LeBron is there, there’s a presence that will be felt,” Green argued.

“For Luka, if he’s struggling, people will still point to LeBron because he’s LeBron. Now that he’s gone, the pressure on Luka rises, and while he’s built for it, I think the pressure on Austin Reaves rises even more.”

Luka, Reaves, Lakers set for a pressuring new era without LeBron James

LeBron James embraced the pressure and responsibility of guiding the Los Angeles Lakers out of mediocrity beginning in 2018. And despite the relative highs and lows of his tenure with the franchise, he still managed to deliver multiple times when it mattered the most in the past eight years.

Last season, James defied Father Time yet again as he maintained his productivity of providing for the Lakers, even finding himself leading at several points amid Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves’ injury inactivity. In his record-breaking 23rd NBA season, the 41-year-old appeared in 60 games and still managed to register 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds.

Notably, James emerged as the driving force for the Lakers’ final stretch of the regular season and throughout their NBA Playoff campaign. With Doncic out due to a hamstring strain and Reaves only returning by the end of the first round against the Houston Rockets amid oblique issues, LeBron carried the load until the end before they got swept by the OKC Thunder in the Conference Semifinals.

As the Lakers enter a new era with Doncic alone in the spotlight and Reaves facing lofty expectations after his four-year, $185 million max extension, the franchise can only prepare for life without LeBron.

“I also think the Lakers organization will feel that impact more than they realize from an economic and presence standpoint, because LeBron is such a huge force. They’ve gone out and added pieces that fit around Luka, including a lob threat at center and some wings, so they should still have a good team,” Green added.

“At the end of the day, Luka is a generational player in his own right, so overall they’ll still be fine—but it’s definitely going to be different.”

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