Carmelo Anthony Says LeBron James Looks Happier Than Ever After Luka Doncic Trade

The Lakers have won 10 of their last 12 games.

Carmelo Anthony during the Paris 2024 Olympic Summer Games at Accor Arena on Aug 6, 2024. / Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

It's not that the Los Angeles Lakers were having a bad season before, but the trade that sent big man Anthony Davis to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for superstar Luka Doncic definitely shook things up (in a good way).

Since the early February swap, L.A. has lost just two of its last 12 games (Doncic has played in nine of those), while Western Conference Player of the Month LeBron James has continued to wow both haters and supporters with mesmerizing performances that rival his numbers ten years ago.

Carmelo Anthony spoke on the Lakers’ recent run during an episode of his podcast released Thursday, and said he thinks the team isn’t getting enough credit right now, and that thanks to Doncic's presence, LeBron looks happier than ever out there on the hardwood.

"I've never seen [LeBron] as happy as he look playing the game right now," Anthony said. "He's off the ball, he's sprinting corners, he's shooting corner threes."

As for why that is, it's because "the roles is reversed," Melo explained. "[LeBron is] AD right now, and Luka is him. So now, all them passes that Bron was throwing to AD ... Luka is capable of making those same exact passes that Bron could make. So now Bron knows all I have to do is run the court, I'm going to get a mismatch. If Luka throw it, I can get it."

He continued: "Luka got the ball now. And this is the first time that we see Bron deferring to somebody with the ball. And he feels very comfortable with Luka being in control of that."

Watch those full comments below starting at 59:20:

We'll of course have to see how the trade plays out through the rest of the season and beyond—but for now, the Lakers are full-speed ahead toward the playoffs, led by a joyous James and a dominant Doncic.

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