Lakers’ LeBron James Makes Announcement on Monday

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Chris Phelps | Last updated Jan 26, 2026 7:56 PM ET

LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers secured their third win in four games on Saturday, defeating Cooper Flagg and the Dallas Mavericks 116-110 on the road. Now, with a 27-17 record entering Monday's game, the Lakers looked to make it two-straight as they continued an eight-game road trip against Nikola Vucevic and the Chicago Bulls.

James has continued to find success in his 23rd season despite being in his early 40s. Even with guard Luka Doncic now running the show in Los Angeles, the former Cleveland Cavaliers and Miami Heat star is still averaging 22.3 points on 50.8% shooting, 6.0 rebounds and 6.9 assists per game, prior to Monday.

Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts against the LA Clippers.© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

But LeBron has remained busy off the court as well. Just before the 2025-26 season began, he launched the third season of his podcast, “Mind the Game,” alongside former Phoenix Suns point guard Steve Nash, who replaced JJ Redick after Redick became the Lakers’ head coach last season.

While James and Nash have not brought on many guests in the third season, Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry did appear on a recent episode. And with Nash overseas to cover NBA games, LeBron opted for a guest co-host for the next installment, set to be released Tuesday, bringing in injured Indiana Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton.

"Mind the Game is back," James said. "Steve Nash is in Europe covering a bunch of NBA games and we can't get a hold of him. We can't find him. So, we have a substitute teacher. We decided to bring on Tyrese Haliburton. Man, welcome to the show, bro."

Tomorrow. Tyrese Haliburton.

Episode drops at 9am ET. Subscribe to our YouTube. https://t.co/t2qZT2w4vV pic.twitter.com/Jx8HtHUAyk
— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) January 26, 2026

Haliburton has notably been out for the entire 2025-26 NBA season as he recovers from a torn Achilles. The two-time All-Star notably led the Pacers all the way to last year's NBA Finals before his injury, but without him this season, Indiana finds itself near the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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