{"id":36167,"date":"2025-08-01T00:15:08","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T00:15:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/36167\/"},"modified":"2025-08-01T00:15:08","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T00:15:08","slug":"luka-doncic-makes-it-clear-wants-lebron-james-to-retire-in-los-angeles","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/36167\/","title":{"rendered":"Luka Doncic Makes It Clear, Wants LeBron James To Retire In Los Angeles"},"content":{"rendered":"

Luka Doncic Makes It Clear, Wants LeBron James To Retire In Los Angeles<\/a> originally appeared on Fadeaway World<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Luka Doncic<\/a> isn\u2019t here for the trade noise. As rumors continue to swirl around LeBron James<\/a>\u2019 future with the Los Angeles Lakers<\/a>, one thing has become increasingly clear, Doncic doesn\u2019t want to see LeBron play for any other franchise. According to a report from Dallas Hoops Journal<\/a>, Doncic is not just supportive of LeBron staying put; he wants the NBA\u2019s all-time leading scorer to end his career in purple and gold.<\/p>\n

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Despite growing tensions around LeBron\u2019s timeline and the franchise\u2019s shift toward building around Doncic, the Slovenian superstar has made his stance known behind closed doors.<\/p>\n

Following LeBron\u2019s decision to opt into the final year of his deal<\/a>, Rich Paul\u2019s cryptic comments<\/a> started the storm, and an ESPN report about LeBron feeling \u201cdisrespected\u201d by how the Lakers<\/a> pivoted to Doncic sparked a wildfire.<\/p>\n

Yet neither LeBron\u2019s camp<\/a> nor the Lakers front office has made any formal push toward a trade or buyout. Meanwhile, Doncic is doing everything to extinguish the noise.<\/p>\n

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Doncic idolized LeBron growing up. Their bond last season grew stronger with each passing game, and Luka continues to regard LeBron as the best possible partner he could have on the floor, even at age 40.<\/p>\n

The respect runs deep, and Doncic knows how rare it is to share the court with a legend who can still dominate. In the 23 games they played together last season, the Lakers went 15\u20138. Doncic averaged 27.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 7.3 assists in that stretch, while LeBron was right behind with 23.7 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 6.7 assists. The duo clicked.<\/p>\n

Even though the Lakers exited the playoffs early, falling to the Timberwolves<\/a> in five games, Doncic isn\u2019t questioning the partnership. In fact, he\u2019s doubling down.<\/p>\n

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Sources close to the team indicate that Luka is not just tolerating LeBron\u2019s presence; he\u2019s actively recruiting around him. Following the departure of Dorian Finney-Smith to Houston, Doncic worked behind the scenes to bring in Marcus Smart and Deandre Ayton<\/a>.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s embraced the role of franchise leader, undergone a massive offseason physical transformation<\/a> to silence conditioning critics, and is widely expected to sign a long-term extension<\/a> in the coming week.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s more, LeBron seems equally invested. Despite the speculation about his future, he hasn\u2019t made a single public move suggesting a departure. His awareness, long regarded as one of his best traits, is guiding him here.<\/p>\n

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He knows he\u2019s unlikely to find a better co-star than Doncic without jumping through buyout hoops. Even if the Lakers decide to move off LeBron\u2019s salary next summer<\/a>, Luka\u2019s presence would give them no choice but to keep the door open for an extension or fresh deal. If Doncic wants LeBron there, LeBron stays.<\/p>\n

LeBron is still playing at an All-NBA level, earning Second Team honors and finishing sixth in MVP voting last season. He\u2019s not being carried; he\u2019s still leading. Doncic knows this better than anyone, and he\u2019s committed to ensuring LeBron finishes his journey with dignity, in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

The message is simple: this is not a rivalry, it\u2019s a partnership. Luka Doncic wants LeBron James to retire as a Laker, and as long as he\u2019s leading the franchise, that wish might just come true.<\/p>\n

Related: 3 Bold Predictions For Luka Doncic\u2019s First Full Season With The Lakers<\/a><\/p>\n

This story was originally reported by Fadeaway World<\/a> on Jul 31, 2025, where it first appeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luka Doncic Makes It Clear, Wants LeBron James To Retire In Los Angeles originally appeared on Fadeaway World.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36168,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[574],"tags":[64,63,726,12839,19706,5145,7896,481,7232,11473,9034,85,32783],"class_list":["post-36167","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-basketball","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-basketball","tag-deandre-ayton","tag-dorian-finney-smith","tag-houston","tag-lebron-james","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-lakers","tag-luka-doncic","tag-marcus-smart","tag-sports","tag-timberwolves"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36167","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36167"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36167\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36168"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36167"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36167"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36167"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}