Kings HC Reveals Difficulty of Facing Lakers' LeBron James & Luka Doncic

The Sacramento Kings suffered a crushing loss to the star-studded Los Angeles Lakers.

Feb 19, 2025; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) and guard Luka Doncic (77) during the second quarter against the Charlotte Hornets at Crypto.com Arena. | Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images

Coming off a huge win over the Dallas Mavericks, the Sacramento Kings went into the second night of a back-to-back with a challenging road matchup against the Los Angeles Lakers. Unfortunately for the Kings, they could not string together consecutive wins, as they suffered a 24-point loss to the Lakers.

In the Lakers' win, they got some huge performances out of their superstar duo, Luka Doncic and LeBron James. After the game, Kings head coach Doug Christie got honest about the difficulty of facing a duo as talented as Doncic and James, especially against their defensive scheme.

"There's only a few players in the league that can make a cross-court pass on time, on target, on a rope, and both of them are on the same team," Christie said. "...I mean, special players. First of all, their size to be able to see over a lot of defenses. They've experienced so many different things throughout their paths... they're dissecting the game at a really, really high level."

Luka and LeBron dominate the Kings

In the dominant win, Doncic finished with 34 points, seven assists, five rebounds, and three steals on 11-23 shooting from the field, while his superstar counterpart had one of his best games since returning from injury. James finished with 24 points on efficient 11-13 shooting with five assists and two steals.

"That's why the level of physicality with them has to be there, because if Luka or LeBron are handling the ball and they're surveying the situation, that puts you at a disadvantage," Christie continued. "But if Luka and LeBron are handling the ball and they're dealing with a defender first, and then surveying the situation, it helps you out. It's not going to stop them, but it's another layer to your defense."

Not sure how Luka got this to Nick Smith pic.twitter.com/cB98unmEoV

— Raj C. (@RajChipalu) December 29, 2025

Even though Christie has the right mindset when it comes to slowing down Doncic and James, some players are scheme-proof. Being more physical with Doncic is not going to stop him, and he continues to show that, regardless of what defense a team throws at him, he will dominate.

Even James, who is not nearly as dominant as he once was, has a high enough basketball IQ to pick apart a defense, regardless of what Christie is trying to throw at him. The Kings are now 0-2 against the Lakers this season, and they might not have the firepower to keep up with them at this stage.