People change their behavior very fast over time, and Luka Doncic joining the Lakers is a perfect example of that. When he first played for the team, his performance wasn’t great, and fans and analysts criticized him a lot.
But as he built chemistry with LeBron James, everything changed. Now, people are comparing their duo to the legendary Lakers pair, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant.
Recently, on his podcast “Gil’s Arena,” former NBA star Gilbert Arenas made this legendary level of comparison. The three-time All-Star thinks Doncic and James could build a powerful offense under coach JJ Redick.
With the Lakers on a six-game winning streak, he saw similarities between this duo and the famous Shaq-Kobe partnership. He said, “This reminds me of Shaq and Kobe. Everybody game plan was to double Shaq, and then Kobe became a God.”
Teams can’t game plan for LeBron and Luka 📈#GILLION pic.twitter.com/DnZB4nsg1x
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) March 3, 2025
Then, he added, “Now its like ‘Oh s**t, what do we do now?’ If you are doubling him (Doncic), now LeBron James is open on the weak side or get to play one-on-one.”
Arenas believes that other teams will have a hard time defending both LeBron James and Luka Doncic. As their chemistry keeps improving, the Lakers look stronger than ever and have a better chance of winning the championship than before.
Gilbert Arenas thinks LeBron James gets unfair GOAT treatment
Gilbert Arenas also talked about the argument about who was the best basketball player ever. He feels that LeBron James is being judged unfairly and is not being held to the same standards as other NBA stars.
Arenas said that when people talk about LeBron as the GOAT, they talk more about his flaws than his multiple accomplishments. “This is the problem when they say, ‘Who is the GOAT?’ You say, ‘Jordan’s the GOAT. Kobe’s No. 2.’ But who is No. 3? LeBron’s No. 3 ’cause he only won four-five (championships),” Arenas said.
"When someone is talking about their Top 10 list… there's only 1 player on that list that's gonna have a negative mark on him."
— Gilbert Arenas (@GilsArenaShow) March 3, 2025
Gil exposes the LeBron haters and their flawed GOAT debate arguments 💯 pic.twitter.com/87g78RB3fW
He then explained, “There’s no negative notion on the person that’s No. 4,” Arenas said. “No. 2 could be No. 1 if he did something, but you didn’t do that to him. No. 4 can be No. 1 if he won all his championships, but you don’t do that to them.”
