Luka Doncic ‘Sad’ To See LeBron James Leave Lakers

Mar 19, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) celebrates with guard Luka Doncic (77) after 60 point game against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Isabella Frias-Imagn Images Mar 19, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) celebrates with guard Luka Doncic (77) after 60 point game against the Miami Heat at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Isabella Frias-Imagn Images

Luka Doncic ‘Sad’ To See LeBron James Leave Lakers

Originally posted on Lakers Nation | By Ron Gutterman | Last updated Sep 30, 2026 11:30 AM ET

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The Los Angeles Lakers have many new faces surrounding Luka Doncic on this season’s roster. But in order to make room for all those new players, the Lakers had to say goodbye to most of their major contributors from last season’s second-round team. The biggest of those departures was LeBron James, who signed with the Philadelphia 76ers on a two-year deal for his 24th and 25th NBA seasons.

The James departure had mixed reviews among those that follow the Lakers closely. The negative is that he is still a hugely impactful player and can play virtually any role asked of him. The positive is that the Lakers are Doncic’s team, and James still being around called that into question, even before getting into the troubled on-court fit. Regardless, Doncic was not happy to see James signing elsewhere in the offseason, Doncic told ESPN at Lakers Media Day:

Luka on Lebron leaving:

"It was kind of sad. Playing with Lebron was amazing. There's a lot of things I learned from him" pic.twitter.com/hErcmMLj0G

— Oh No He Didn't (@ohnohedidnt24) September 28, 2026

Doncic, though, also recognizes the positives and negatives. He later spoke about the Lakers being unequivocally his team following James heading East.

“It feels great. Obviously, it’s a new challenge,” he said. “I was in this position in my career a lot of times, so it’s not new to me. But I feel great. I feel excited, and like I said, I’m ready to go. It’s been a long time since I played basketball, so I’m ready.”

Doncic has already shown — before any games are played — what his leadership style is going to be. He bankrolled the entire team to fly out to Slovenia and do an offseason minicamp together earlier in the summer. And while there, teammates raved about Doncic’s leadership and the way he’s already rallying the team.

Like he said, he has been the unquestioned leader before, but it has been almost two years since that was the case, and with two extra years under his belt, his style may have changed and become more hands-on. There seems to be complete faith from everyone surrounding the Lakers in Doncic to move the team forward without James.

Luka Doncic is healthy with no restrictions

Doncic’s 2025-26 season came to an unfortunate early end when he suffered a left hamstring strain less than two weeks before the start of the playoffs. He would not return for any Lakers postseason games, and watched from the sidelines as they got swept in the second round by the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Now, Doncic says he is at full strength and has no physical restrictions as training camp begins.

This article first appeared on Los Angeles Lakers on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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