Mark Medina
LOS ANGELES — The chants became louder as Luka Dončić exited the floor. Just as he did throughout the night, LeBron James then handed his teammate another assist.
Dončić just finished with a 51-point masterpiece with the Lakers’ eventual 142-130 win over the Chicago Bulls on Thursday at Crypto.com Arena in what marked his highest scoring output in his 1 ½ seasons donning a purple and gold uniform. Near the Bulls’ basket, James raised his hands up for the sell-out crowd to give Dončić a standing ovation.
That moment encapsulated one of many moments in which James has embraced Dončić. In his first game since missing the previous three with various injuries, James has shown that he can handle a complementary role just fine.
“I’m able to adapt to whatever needs from the team,” James said.
On Thursday, that didn’t mean James would simply become the Lakers’ No. 2 option. James wasn’t even just the third option behind Austin Reaves. The NBA’s most enduring superstar relegated himself as the team’s fourth option.
Dončić carried the Lakers (41-25) with a near triple double (51 points, 10 rebounds, nine assists), partly because Bulls forward Matas Buzeilis mistakenly talked trash. Reaves followed suit with 30 points while shooting 13-for-20 from the field and 4-for-7 from 3-point range and adding seven assists. Lakers center Deandre Ayton added 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting and 10 rebounds. As for James? The NBA’s all-time leading scorer finished with 18 points on a 7-for-13 clip along with seven assists and two steals.
“He wants to do everything possible to help his team win, and he understands the importance of making sure Luka and AR can be at their best,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “That’s incredible with him. You know, it speaks a lot to just how much he cares about this team and his teammates, and how much he wants to win.”
It also speaks to how James’ presence with the Lakers requires some nuance.
Are the Lakers better without James? That talking point emerged after the Lakers secured a three-game winning streak with two signature victories (New York Knicks, Minnesota Timberwolves), while James sat to heal his left foot, right hip and left elbow. Technically, the Lakers have gone 10-2 with Dončić and Reaves playing without James. The Lakers’ five-man starting lineup with James represents their least efficient offense. The Lakers historically fared poorly with Dončić, Reaves and James together amid overlapping injuries to James and Reaves throughout the season. Redick also struggled with finding the right rotations with those players when accounting for Ayton’s inconsistency, the team’s inconsistent 3-point shooting and the roster’s defensive flaws.
Redick jokingly said he couldn’t say anything good about the Lakers defensively considering they allowed an undermanned Bulls team to shoot 53.7% overall and 41.7% from deep. But chemistry looked sharp because James maintained the strong ball movement they displayed during his absence. The Lakers’ collective urgency remained as high as when James sat.
“Benefit others and benefit the team,” James said. “The team is the most important. Everybody is successful when we win. So it is a sacrifice. I know what I’m capable of still doing as an individual. But what’s important for this team, I’m able to adapt to what’s important. That’s the only thing that matters. The win is the only thing that matters.”
James backed up those words with actions.
On the first play of the game, James set up Reaves for an open 3 after making a swing pass. To open the second quarter, James set up Reaves for another open 3 and Ayton for a lob. James didn’t take a shot until missing a shot near the rim with 10:03 left in the second quarter. James didn’t make his first shot until making a 6-foot runner with 54 seconds.
Redick stressed that James may have a higher scoring load in other games. But Redick added that he and James “had a great conversation” about his role. He emphasized ahead of Thursday’s game to his three stars to “just play the basketball game in front of us.”
That meant James would defer most ball-handling duties to Dončić and Reaves since he considered them “magical and dynamic” during his absence. That meant James would include Ayton in the offense after viewing his recent play as “unbelievable.” That meant James would embrace grabbing rebounds and setting screens to account for absences to center Jaxson Hayes (sore back) and forward Maxi Kleber (strained back).
The Lakers (41-25) will have tougher opponents than Chicago, starting with Saturday’s game against the Denver Nuggets (41-26). But the Lakers moved to No. 3 in the Western Conference standings ahead of the Houston Rockets (40-25) partly because James adjusted his role.
“You can build habits You can build chemistry,” James said. “You can build how you want to play when it comes to the postseason. So every game matters. The way you approach the game matters.”
Mark Medina is an NBA contributor for Sportsnaut. Follow him on X, Blue Sky, Instagram, Facebook and Threads.
