{"id":45562,"date":"2025-08-05T14:55:11","date_gmt":"2025-08-05T14:55:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/45562\/"},"modified":"2025-08-05T14:55:11","modified_gmt":"2025-08-05T14:55:11","slug":"what-lebron-james-once-said-to-an-nba-reporter-reminds-them-of-luka-doncic-he-should-believe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/45562\/","title":{"rendered":"What LeBron James once said to an NBA reporter reminds them of Luka Doncic, \u2018He should believe\u2026\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Luka Doncic\u2019s press conference comments have drawn LeBron James comparisons, after he signed a $165 million extension with the LA Lakers. <\/p>\n

Doncic\u2019s<\/a> extension keeps him with the Lakers<\/a> for another three seasons. There were doubts that Doncic would re-sign after the Lakers lost Dorian Finney-Smith<\/a> in a messy departure. Still, the Slovenian superstar will remain a Laker for the foreseeable future.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=FwDu-5k5jJ0\"Carlin Stiehl \/ Los Angeles Times via Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Lakers should be contenders for the upcoming NBA<\/a> title. James<\/a> remains a Laker despite the offseason drama, and they made offseason additions to help them compete.\u00a0Doncic said something recently which made an NBA expert think back to a conversation he had with James.\u00a0<\/p>\n

In his press conference with the Lakers, which took place shortly after the announcement of Doncic\u2019s extension, he talked about winning a championship: \u201cI don\u2019t want to wait. I had a taste of the Finals. I am getting back there. So let\u2019s do whatever we can now.\u201d<\/p>\n

Former NBA reporter Chris Broussard, reflecting on a conversation he had with James during his first stint with the Cleveland Cavaliers, said Doncic reminded him of James with those comments.\u00a0<\/p>\n

On First Things First, Broussard said, \u201cI talked to LeBron when he had Delonte West, Mo Williams and those guys. He was like, \u2018Man, we got a squad.\u2019 He really believed he could win the championship, which I loved. That\u2019s what I want.\u201d<\/p>\n

James made the NBA Finals unexpectedly in 2009, carrying a Cleveland team with no other All-Stars to a 66\u201316 record and the number one seed in the NBA. The NBA\u2019s all-time leading scorer<\/a> believed he could win the title with that team, according to Broussard, which reminds him of Doncic.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Broussard continued, \u201cI love the fact that [Doncic] said, \u2018I think we have enough to win it all\u2019. Whether they do or not, I do think they\u2019re in that top tier. I think OKC, Houston, Denver, Minnesota, and the Lakers. I put them right in that group.\u201d<\/p>\n

The LA Lakers can win the NBA championship, says Chris Broussard <\/p>\n

The Lakers have had a turbulent, yet productive, summer. They needed a centre, so they signed DeAndre Ayton<\/a>. They needed wing defence after losing Dorian Finney-Smith, so they signed Marcus Smart<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n

James was considering leaving the Lakers<\/a>, but now it appears he is set to stay. LA brought in pieces and kept their star duo together. Now they eye a championship.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Chris Broussard evaluated the Lakers\u2019 title chances, saying, \u201cIf Luka Doncic has LeBron James playing at an All-NBA level, and of course, that has to happen with LeBron\u2019s age. <\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve got a centre who, for all his issues, is still 16 points and 10 rebounds for his career. You don\u2019t sleepwalk into 16 and 10. Luka helped recruit DeAndre; he\u2019s going to be good. He\u2019s going to be on the end of a lot of those lobs from Luka. <\/p>\n

\u201cThen you\u2019ve got another 20-point scorer in Austin Reeves. He recruited Marcus Smart, and we\u2019ll see what Marcus Smart can do at this stage of his career.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI think they\u2019ve got a nice squad, and Luka didn\u2019t feel like he had enough, or even say it, I would be like, \u2018Are you all I think you are?\u2019 He should believe that.\u201d<\/p>\n

They have every chance. Doncic, who looks in the shape of his life after a body transformation this offseason, could be league MVP. Depending on how long James can fend off father time, they could have the best duo in the NBA.<\/p>\n

With a solid supporting cast, they must be considered a contender for the Oklahoma City Thunder\u2019s throne. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Luka Doncic\u2019s press conference comments have drawn LeBron James comparisons, after he signed a $165 million extension with…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":45563,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[557],"tags":[64,63,35501,7896,11473,590,85],"class_list":{"0":"post-45562","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-au","9":"tag-australia","10":"tag-la-lakers","11":"tag-lebron-james","12":"tag-luka-doncic","13":"tag-nba","14":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45562","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=45562"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/45562\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/45563"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=45562"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=45562"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=45562"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}