“LeBron James Is the Co-Star, but He Ain’t the Star”: Skip Bayless Explains How Getting Luka Doncic Has ‘Freed’ 40 Y/O Star

On Thursday night, the Lakers came out with an impressive 111-102 victory over the Timberwolves. LeBron James continued his otherworldly dominance, spearheading Los Angeles to their fourth straight win.

Although he leads the team in scoring during this stretch, he isn’t carrying the entire offensive burden. The addition of Luka Doncic has allowed James to finally take a backseat. Skip Bayless proclaims that Doncic’s presence has freed the 40-year-old superstar.

LeBron and the Lakers never intended for him to be the team’s best player this deep into his career. Their plan was for former big man Anthony Davis to take the keys from the four-time NBA champion. That transition never happened, which led to the team acquiring a star who could do just that in Doncic.

Luka has struggled with his efficiency since joining the Lakers, shooting just 38.1% from the field.

However, his ability to make plays for himself and others has forced extensive defensive coverage on the Slovenian star. James has been one of the biggest beneficiaries of this, as he can assert more energy on defense due to his increasingly off-ball role offensively.

Even Bayless, who’s been James’ biggest critic over the last 22 years, was in awe of LeBron’s performance last night. The pairing of James and Doncic is off to a far greater start than he had anticipated.

But even while praising him, Bayless couldn’t resist but take a slight dig at the 21-time All-Star.

He claimed that James’ tremendous run of performances has come because there’s no pressure on him anymore, indirectly claiming that LeBron crumbles under the weight of expectations.

“[LeBron] is the co-star, but he ain’t the star,” Bayless said. “Everybody comes out to see Luka. LeBron has much less pressure and expectation than he’s ever had in his whole career.”

The lack of expectation has “freed” James, according to Bayless.

The NBA’s all-time leading scorer can take a break from orchestrating an offense and focus on putting the ball in the basket, which he did on Thursday night.

James also turned back the clock on multiple possessions on the defensive end, including clamping down rookie Rob Dillingham in the first quarter, forcing a shot clock violation.

Although Bayless is historically a LeBron hater, he couldn’t help but give praise to the 40-year-old’s defensive effort. “I’ve never seen LeBron play this kind of defense since maybe his fourth or fifth year in the league,” Bayless admitted.

However, in typical Skip Bayless fashion, he had to elevate Michael Jordan above James. “By the way, Michael Jordan actually won defensive player of the year one year,” he sniped.

Regardless, James’ resurgence since the addition of Doncic is something worth nothing. Bayless isn’t ready to admit the Lakers are a title contender, but he is taking note of just how dangerous of a team they are.

LeBron James’ stellar play since the Luka trade

The Lakers have changed their identity since adding Doncic. The obvious assumption was that Doncic’s outstanding offensive ability would turn them into one of the best offenses.

Instead, their defense has taken a jump. In large part due to James’ willingness to defend.

Since the All-Star break, the Lakers hold the best defensive rating in the league at 101.6. It is only a five-game sample size, but it is an unexpected development, especially when you take into account the fact that they lost defensive coordinator Anthony Davis.

In the Lakers’ last three games, they held the Nuggets to 100 points, the Mavericks to 99 points, and the Timberwolves to 102 points. They have shown they can hold their own against some of the West’s best.

The Lakers have the fourth-highest strength of schedule remaining. The legitimacy of their team will become more solidified depending on whether they can maintain this level of play to close out the season.