Gilbert Arenas says LA Lakers only met one of LeBron James and Luka Doncic’s demands this summer

Gilbert Arenas feels LA Lakers are only fulfilling Luka Doncic’s demands

At 26 years old, Doncic is entering the prime of his career, and by signing a three-year contract extension this summer, he has made his commitment to the Lakers as clear as possible.

James, on the other hand, will turn 41 in December 2025 and is in the twilight years of his NBA career. The logical choice was to build around Doncic, and that’s what the Lakers have done.

“This summer, LeBron made a statement that said, ‘I want a championship team.’ Luka said he ‘wanted these types of players,'” Arenas began on his show.

He added: “Who got what? We got some lob threats, [but] we didn’t get any championship-contending players. The only thing LeBron got was sciatica.”

To be fair, adding the players that Doncic wanted was a step towards building a championship contender. But Arenas sees it as a disrespect toward James, who has given the past seven years of his career to LA.

LeBron James will miss LA Lakers’ season opener

Despite a turbulent summer, the Laker Nation will hope to see the Doncic-James duo flourish with the new supporting cast.

Unfortunately, James has already been ruled out of the Lakers’ season opener due to his sciatica injury. In fact, the 4x NBA MVP has sat out of preseason games as well.

While some read too much into the timing of this injury, others aren’t worried about James missing games to begin the season.

Either way, the majority of Lakers fans are currently focused on Doncic’s preseason debut. The Slovenian star will be a part of Lakers’ lineup against the Phoenix Suns.