LeBron James had an “inner battle” throughout the 2025-26 season over how a lot he wanted to defer to Austin Reaves, in keeping with Regulation Murray. The difficulty got here inside a Lakers offense that additionally featured Luka Doncic because the clear major choice.
“Protecting LeBron James final season, he had an inner battle happening with how a lot he needed to defer to Austin Reaves,” Murray reported. “Even Bron understood that Luka was the highest dawg in any circumstance.”
The numbers illustrate why James confronted a unique offensive hierarchy in Los Angeles. Doncic averaged 33.5 factors and eight.3 assists in 64 video games, whereas Reaves averaged 23.3 factors and 5.5 assists in 51 appearances.
James remained extremely productive at age 41, averaging 20.9 factors, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds in 60 video games. He shot 51.5% from the sector, though his 31.7% three-point taking pictures was his lowest mark since getting back from his 2019-20 Achilles harm.
Murray mentioned James was notably happy when he might reclaim a bigger offensive function within the postseason, together with Los Angeles’ first-round sequence towards Houston. The Lakers completed 53-29, fourth within the Western Convention, earlier than being swept by Oklahoma City in the second round.
James’ function is now altering once more after leaving Los Angeles for the Philadelphia 76ers. Philadelphia’s offense will pair him with Tyrese Maxey and Joel Embiid, whereas Jaylen Brown can also be anticipated to play a big offensive function.
Murray believes that construction might permit James to stay efficient with out requiring him to dominate the ball. “The ball continues to be going to be introduced up primarily by Tyrese Maxey,” Murray mentioned, noting that Maxey has expertise sharing offensive obligations with different high-usage gamers.
Maxey beforehand performed alongside Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid early in his profession earlier than spending two seasons with James Harden. He additionally shared the ball with rookie VJ Edgecombe throughout the 2025-26 season.
That historical past might make the transition to enjoying with James simpler. Slightly than asking James to perform as Philadelphia’s conventional level guard, the Sixers can use his passing and half-court playmaking selectively whereas Maxey handles a lot of the preliminary ball development.
James averaged 7.2 assists final season, his highest mark since 2021-22, whereas committing 3.0 turnovers per sport. His means to create offense stays vital, however the Philadelphia setup might scale back the period of time he must provoke each possession.
Murray mentioned the potential is especially vital for Brown, as a result of a shared playmaking construction might give all three stars alternatives to assault from advantageous positions. The Sixers will want regular-season repetitions to determine these roles earlier than figuring out how the mix interprets towards playoff defenses.
