Doncic: There’s no stress to replace injured LeBron

Los Angeles Lakers are preparing for the new NBA season but will be without LeBron James who will be side-lined as he recovers from sciatica on the right side of his body.

At least the Lakers’ other superstar, Luka Doncic, is available to take responsibility. Nevertheless, Doncic claims he is under no pressure to compensate for the absence of King James.

“I don’t view it that way,” Doncic said. “I just want to play basketball. If I do less, if I do more, whatever it takes for me to get a win.” So far without James and Doncic, the Lakers are winless in the preseason, going 0-2 against Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors.

Doncic was a full participant on Saturday’s training session after having his workload modified all week to save the 26-year-old guard some wear and tear after he played for Slovenia in EuroBasket this summer.

Doncic said he and James have “talked a lot” while observing the Lakers practice from the side-lines during training camp, which has helped with chemistry.

For the time being, all Doncic and the Lakers will be getting out of James during games is what the 40-year-old can provide with his voice from the bench.

“It’s a big change,” Doncic said of having to play without James. “He’s a great player. He can help us a lot. But at the end of the day, our mentality needs to be ‘next man up.’ We got a group of guys that have been practicing and hopefully LeBron can join us as soon as possible. We are going to obviously need him. But our mentality has got to be ‘next man up.’ That’s it.”