{"id":134408,"date":"2025-09-10T18:58:08","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T18:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/134408\/"},"modified":"2025-09-10T18:58:08","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T18:58:08","slug":"charles-barkley-deals-lebron-james-a-cold-hard-truth-about-his-lakers-future","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/134408\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Barkley deals LeBron James a cold hard truth about his Lakers future"},"content":{"rendered":"

LeBron James<\/a> may still wear the crown, but according to Charles Barkley, it is time to hand over the throne, because this Los Angeles Lakers team now belongs to Luka Doncic<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Barkley says the Lakers are now Doncic’s team, not LeBron\u2019s<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s already probably Luka\u2019s team now,\u201d Barkley said on The Bill Simmons Show.<\/a> \u201cYou don\u2019t sign, trade for Luka Doncic, give him all that money, and it\u2019s not his team.\u201d<\/p>\n

Barkley didn\u2019t stop there. He compared LeBron\u2019s current reality to what other all-time greats went through late in their careers, stepping back so the next generation could lead. <\/p>\n

\u201cKareem did it with Magic. Tim Duncan did it with Tony Parker, [Manu] Ginobili, and Kawhi Leonard,\u201d Barkley said. \u201cThe baton has to be passed from everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n

There is no controversy here, just a shift that was eventually bound to happen. LeBron is 40 years old. Luka <\/a>is just 26 years old and entering his prime. The Lakers did not go all-in on Doncic<\/a> just to use him as a co-star. They brought him in to be the guy. Their moves this year prove that clearly.<\/p>\n

For the first time in LeBron\u2019s career, he is not at the center<\/a> of a team\u2019s identity. Even though he is still playing at a high level, last season he averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, and 8.2 assists; it is pretty obvious that the franchise\u2019s long-term direction is no longer tied to him<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Barkley was clear about that, too: \u201cThe Lakers haven\u2019t been relevant. The bubble was the last time they\u2019ve been relevant.\u201d <\/p>\n

That 2020 title is still an important part of LeBron\u2019s legacy, but since then, the Lakers have struggled to find consistency.\u00a0They have missed the playoffs twice, had early exits, and never looked like real contenders. Now, the front office is making moves for the future, and the future is Doncic.<\/p>\n

If there are any doubts about how big a shift this is, just listen to Barkley\u2019s take: \u201cPlaying with Luka Doncic is like winning the lottery.\u201d <\/p>\n

It\u2019s not a slight against LeBron; it is a reminder that he is in a different chapter now.<\/p>\n

LeBron picked up his player option for the 2025\u201326 season. There are whispers about a possible trade down the line, but nothing concrete. <\/p>\n

What is clear is that the Lakers are moving forward, and whether LeBron chooses to fully embrace<\/a> that or not is up to him. He is still an icon. Still a leader. But as Barkley pointed out, the baton is already in Doncic\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LeBron James may still wear the crown, but according to Charles Barkley, it is time to hand over…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":134409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[434],"tags":[49,48,459,82],"class_list":["post-134408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nba","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-nba","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=134408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/134408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/134409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=134408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=134408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=134408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}