Watch: LeBron James shows off connection with Luka Doncic vs. Hornets
Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Luka Doncic (77) during the second quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena. Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images
Who said point guard Luka Doncic and small forward LeBron James couldn't play together?
In Wednesday night's home game against the Charlotte Hornets, Doncic and James started running the show for the Los Angeles Lakers.
Early in the first quarter, with the Hornets leading 2-0, James fired a quick pass to Doncic for a layup. Shortly after, Doncic grabbed a defensive rebound and tossed a full-court pass to James for a dunk.
— NBA (@NBA) February 20, 2025LEBRON TO LUKA.
LUKA TO LEBRON.Back-to-back fastbreaks from the Lakers are a mirror image of one another pic.twitter.com/7Ny2t7Q7TJ
The Lakers acquired Doncic in a blockbuster trade with the Dallas Mavericks on Feb. 2, even though he doesn't seem like a complement for James. Like Doncic, James is a point forward who doesn't play off the ball.
"This thing in L.A. isn't gonna be smooth with [Doncic] and LeBron because they both want the ball 100 percent of the time," Charles Barkley, a Basketball Hall of Famer, recently told NBA TV.
However, Doncic and James are elite passers. Through his first 48 games, James averaged nine assists per game, the league's fourth-best mark. Doncic, meanwhile, logged 7.5 assists per game in his first 24 games.
If James and Doncic can continue to feed off each other, that could make them an even more potent duo.
Dalton is a 2022 journalism graduate of the University of Texas at Austin. He gained experience in sports media over the past seven years — from live broadcasting and creating short films to podcasting and producing. In college, he wrote for The Daily Texan. He loves sports and enjoys hiking, kayaking, and camping.
