The Los Angeles Lakers are home to two of the best players in the world in LeBron James and Luka Doncic. The latter was traded to L.A. at the deadline from the Dallas Mavericks in one of the most shocking trades in NBA history, and it didn’t take long for Doncic to establish himself in Los Angeles.

While Doncic and James are both mega stars in the NBA and internationally, they came about their success in completely different regions of the world. Luka was a professional player by his early teenage years, winning EuroLeague MVPs at the same age that LeBron was still in high school. James, meanwhile, leaped from high school to the NBA and made an instant impact as one of the most influential rookies in league history.

Despite that, both came to the same conclusion about how to find success as a basketball player, and what advice they would give to younger generations. For both of them, it’s the concept of starring in your role, via the “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash:

Every player on winning teams has mastered their role. pic.twitter.com/OeMqAhwysN

— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) June 8, 2025

The Lakers stars both know what it takes to lead a team to the NBA Finals. Doncic has yet to win a championship, but he led the Mavericks to the 2024 NBA Finals. Meanwhile, LeBron has been to 10 NBA Finals and has won four championships.

They have needed role players to step up in big moments and be able to thrive in their roles. Both have also needed to shift around their games to match the needs of the team, an impressive similarity between the two superstars that some of the league’s best have not had to do or been able to do.

If both James and Doncic are saying the same advice, then it’s likely worth listening to for younger players.

Luka Doncic is entering his first offseason as a member of the purple and gold, and he does so under arguably the most scrutiny of his career. He was traded away from the Mavericks before the deadline with the team citing defense and conditioning as their reasoning behind the wildly unpopular deal.

And when the Lakers got to the playoffs, Doncic’s defense and conditioning were factors in their first-round, five-game series loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Lakers would still do the Doncic trade 100 times out of 100, and rightfully so, but the concerns still existed. This made it a massive offseason for Doncic to get into better basketball shape.

And it seems he is already doing so, as he has made a few public appearances looking significantly slimmer, and recently posted a video of him putting in offseason work in the gym.

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