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Reggie Miller believes LeBron James will fit in perfectly with the Lakers this season
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- Reggie Miller believes LeBron James will fit in perfectly with the Lakers this season
(© Kirby Lee-Imagn Images)
Hours before LeBron James officially played an unprecedented 23rd NBA season, podcaster Dan Patrick spoke with Hall of Famer Reggie Miller on his podcast and asked the Indiana Pacers legend if integrating LeBron to a Los Angeles Lakers team that has found a winning formula and opened the 2025-26 season strongly would be an issue.
Reggie said everything is up to LeBron, but knowing how intelligent he is as a basketball player and given his vast experience playing in the league, he is confident that "King James" will make things work in Los Angeles .
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"You don't play in this league for 22 plus years like LeBron has done and not be able to adapt," said Miller. "And he's been over the sidelines since the beginning of the season, he understands what they need and when to interject and be LeBron. But he also knows, he doesn't have the same skillset, even though at his age, he was a second-team All-NBA player just a year ago."
Should LeBron be the second or third option?
It was a week after training camp when the Lakers announced that LeBron would miss the first three to four weeks of the season with a sciatica injury. And so James missed the Lakers' first 14 games of the current campaign.
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But instead of struggling without their superstar, the Lakers were off to an impressive 10-4 start.
When he was cleared to return to basketball activities, fans and analysts argued about what role LBJ would have on the current Lakers team. Some said he would have to settle for being the second option to Luka Doncic , while others said he also has to take a backseat to Austin Reaves , who has emerged as Luka's tag team partner.
"I think he will fit in where he needs to and I think it's up to him to fit in as opposed to these guys changing their games. But I mean, you're getting an All-NBA player back. If you're JJ Redick and the Lakers, I like where this is headed," added Reggie.
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LeBron had 12 assists in his season debut
Spoken like a prophet, Miller's analysis was spot on. LeBron returned to action against the Utah Jazz on Tuesday night at the Lakers' home floor, and although he played 30 minutes in his first game back, James only took seven shots, which was well off his career average of 19.6 per game and the 18.1 field goal attempts per game he shot last season.
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Still, he scored 11 points, which kept his double-digit scoring streak alive. But the big thing was his 12 assists, which included nifty passes to new teammates Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia .
It proved Miller's theory that LeBron will fit in.
"I said at yesterday's practice, I can fit in with anybody. I don't even understand why that was even a question. What's wrong with these people out here?" James said after the game.
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James didn't have the benefit of a training camp and did not play in the preseason. Yet on Tuesday night, he made sure his 10-point record remained intact and then he turned into prime Magic Johnson, finding teammates who didn't even know they were open.
You couldn't do it any better than that.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Nov 19, 2025, where it first appeared in the Latest News section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
