Ex-NBA Star Calls Luka Doncic “Arrogant,” Explains Why He Didn’t Seek Help From LeBron James During Lakers Tenure

For the first time in eight years, the Los Angeles Lakers are heading into a season without LeBron James on the roster. In his place stands Luka Doncic, fully handed the keys to a franchise that's staked its future on him. The front office believes he's the one to bring another banner to Los Angeles. Not everyone watching from outside the building agrees, and this week, two very different critics made sure everyone heard why.

The sharper of the two came from Al Harrington, a 16-year NBA veteran who last played in 2014. On a recent episode of the To The Baha show, the conversation turned to whether Doncic had already hit his ceiling, with the crew comparing him to Jalen Brunson. Harrington didn't hedge his answer.

His argument started simple: scoring numbers alone don't tell you whether a player is actually good, and he believes Doncic has leaned on volume scoring without rounding out the rest of his game. From there, Harrington turned to the two years Doncic spent playing alongside LeBron James in Los Angeles, and whether that time actually made him better.

"I think at this point, it ain't all about points... You can get a lot of points and still be a bad player ... I think with (Luka Doncic), can he get with somebody that can develop his whole game?" Harrington said.

"You would think that playing with LeBron James and seeing his habits and all that kind of s**t would overall make (Luka Doncic) better," Harrington continued. "I personally think that probably did not happen because, one, he's arrogant."

Harrington didn't stop at LeBron either. He extended the same criticism to Doncic's current head coach, arguing JJ Redick simply doesn't have the coaching pedigree to develop him the way a more established voice might, a pointed suggestion that the Lakers' current setup still hasn't given Doncic what he actually needs to reach his ceiling.

There's a real basis for the "he never adapted" argument too. Doncic was one of the rare James teammates who never fully bent his game around LeBron's system, sticking to his own style even as most of the roster fell in line behind James's lead. That tension occasionally spilled into public view, most notably in February, when a game-deciding possession against Orlando ended with James publicly suggesting Doncic had been off-balance and out of rhythm on the play, comments plenty of fans read as a subtle shot at his younger co-star's decision-making in the moment.

Harrington isn't the only voice questioning whether the current roster can actually get Doncic where the Lakers need him to go. Phoenix's Dillon Brooks took his own jab at the situation recently, telling Twitch streamer Neon that Doncic would need to average 40 points a game just to keep the Lakers competitive next season, a pointed read on how thin he thinks the supporting cast still is.

That supporting cast did get real reinforcements this offseason, even if the critics aren't convinced it's enough. The Lakers re-signed Austin Reaves and landed center Walker Kessler in a sign-and-trade with the Utah Jazz, addressing what the front office considered its two biggest needs heading into the post-LeBron era. Whether that's enough roster around Doncic to answer Harrington and Brooks is exactly the question the coming season is going to settle.

Former NBA Star Believes Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves Can Both Easily Average 30 PPG

Not every outside voice is sounding the alarm. Former NBA guard Jeff Teague sees real reason for optimism in exactly the pairing Harrington is skeptical of, specifically how far Doncic and Reaves can push each other offensively now that LeBron's scoring load has left the equation entirely.

"They could be number one," Teague said on the Club 520 Podcast. "(Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves) can both average 30 points a game. ... I don't see nobody else that can do that."

The numbers make the case at least plausible. Doncic averaged 33.5 points a game last season, with Reaves close behind at 23.3, a 10-point gap that's easier to close than it looks once you account for the games Reaves missed to injury. With James no longer on the roster to soak up touches, that scoring workload has nowhere to go but toward the two players the Lakers are now building around.

Whether Reaves' jump actually happens will start showing up quickly once the season tips off, and it may end up being the clearest answer yet to whether this roster, and this version of Doncic, can prove Harrington wrong.