Until he sustained a Grade 2 hamstring injury last Thursday, Luka Doncic was enjoying one of the best seasons of his NBA career. He arrived with the Los Angeles Lakers in February 2025 amidst criticism about his lack of conditioning and lack of defensive effort, and he started to do something about that criticism this past summer.

He watched his diet, dropped extra weight and got into much better shape during the offseason. Many predicted a “revenge season” for him as a result, and he ended up putting himself into at least the periphery of the MVP discussion.

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But LeBron James feels there is another reason for Doncic’s improved play. On his “Mind the Game” podcast, he said that Doncic has found a comfort zone after spending his first six and a half seasons with the Dallas Mavericks.

“I could be here for hours talking about what I’m seeing,” James said. “I just think his level of comfortability now in the organization has allowed him to play free basketball… I’m comfortable being a Laker. I’m comfortable in my home. I’m comfortable with the guys. I’m comfortable being myself, like opening up. He just seems so free and that does wonders to the game itself when you not only feel free, but feel accepted as well.

“You gotta think, seven, eight years in an organization and you like I plan on being here my whole career, I wanna be here my whole career and then boom, one night it’s over with. It took an adjustment and I just see like a sense of free, like I’m just back to being ‘Luka Magic’ like ‘The Don’ out here just playing a game, in the flow. And every night you look up at the scoreboard and it’s 35-8-7, 40-10-8, 45-11-7. And it’s not like, [expletive] he took 40 shots or 45 shots, it’s like all flow. And to be out there and witnessing it and seeing it. I’ve played with some great players obviously throughout my career and he’s right up there with them. It’s crazy.”

Doncic will end this regular season averaging 33.5 points on 47.6% overall shooting and 36.6% from 3-point range, 7.7 rebounds, 8.3 assists and 1.6 steals a game. He’s leading the NBA in scoring average, but because he has played in just 64 games, he will be ineligible for end-of-season individual awards.

Since he missed two games earlier this season to witness the birth of his second child, his agent, Bill Duffy, will apply for an exemption to the league’s rule that a player must appear in at least 65 games to be eligible for end-of-season honors.

This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: LeBron James on what led to Luka Doncic’s monster season