In the aftermath of the NBA trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers have climbed up the Western Conference standings with their new star duo of LeBron James and Luka Doncic. Since the Doncic trade, the Lakers have gone 11-2 and currently hold the No. 2 seed in the West. The Lakers’ rise in the standings has drawn attention across the NBA world, including former NBA star Carmelo Anthony.
During a recent episode of Carmelo Anthony’s podcast, ‘7PM in Brooklyn,’ Anthony spoke about what he’s seen from the Lakers’ new star duo in LeBron James and Luka Doncic.
“Bron, I’ve never seen him as happy as he looks playing the game right now. They’re a lockdown defensive team right now, with Luka,” Anthony said. “The roles are reversed now. He’s [LeBron] AD right now, and Luka is him. So now Bron knows, all I have to do is run the court, I’m gonna get a mismatch, if Luka throws it, I can go get it.”
The discussion also touched up on the Lakers’ defensive intensity as well as a potential matchup in the playoffs with the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets have eliminated the Lakers in the playoffs for the past two seasons.
Most recently, the Lakers defeated the Nuggets on the road, 123-100, while holding Nikola Jokic to only 12 points. Anthony believes that the Lakers’ defense is sustainable should these two teams meet once again in the postseason.
“I just think it’s very sustainable. It’s nothing that Joker would do that nobody has seen anymore,” Anthony continued. “A lot of teams that LeBron had wasn’t willing to make s**t work. We wasn’t willing to make the s**t work when I was with the Lakers. Luka’s got the ball now. And this is the first time we’re seeing LeBron deferring to somebody with the ball. And he feels very comfortable with Luka being in control of that.”
The Lakers are currently 39-21, but are essentially tied percentage-wise with the Nuggets in the standings. The Nuggets are 40-22.
Anthony played with James on the Lakers during the 2021-22 season when the team missed the playoffs in what would be Frank Vogel’s final season as head coach.
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