{"id":182410,"date":"2025-08-28T12:31:09","date_gmt":"2025-08-28T12:31:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182410\/"},"modified":"2025-08-28T12:31:09","modified_gmt":"2025-08-28T12:31:09","slug":"charles-barkley-lebron-james-will-have-to-step-aside","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/182410\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Barkley: \u201cLeBron James will have to step aside\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"\">For the first time since his arrival in 2018, <b>LeBron James has not been the main protagonist of the <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/lakers\/\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/lakers\/\"><b>Los Angeles Lakers<\/b><\/a><b> this summer with <\/b>everything revolving around Luka Doncic. The Los Angeles franchise even decided not to offer a contract extension to the future<b> <\/b><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/halloffame\/2025\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/halloffame\/2025\"><b>NBA Hall of Famer<\/b><\/a> which indicates that this will be his last season with the team from the City of Angels before becoming a free agent in the summer of 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">That doesn\u2019t mean that the veteran star has lost sway in the locker room, as at 40 years old, <b>LeBron James is still one of the league\u2019s best players<\/b>. This passing of the baton isn\u2019t surprising either, as <b>Luka Doncic<\/b> is younger and just signed a long-term contract with the Lakers.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">From now on, the focus of the franchise\u2019s sporting decisions will be on the Slovenian point guard. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/player\/787\/career\" target=\"_self\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/www.nba.com\/stats\/player\/787\/career\"><b>NBA legend Charles Barkley<\/b><\/a><b> also weighed in on this topic<\/b>, analyzing the direction the Lakers are taking.<\/p>\n<p>The Lakers belong to Luka Doncic<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">\u201c<b>LeBron is going to have to step aside at some point. <\/b>It is what it is. Even though he\u2019s been there and he\u2019s still putting up good numbers, the team hasn\u2019t had success in probably four years. <b>It\u2019s probably Luka\u2019s team now. <\/b>You don\u2019t sign or trade for Luka Doncic, give him all that money, and it\u2019s not going to be his team,\u201d Charles Barkley said on \u2018The Better Angle\u2019.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/VBO6IUIWTJHUHJ25SNU7SQFE6E\" alt=\"Charles Barkley: \u201cLeBron James will have to step aside\u201d\" height=\"1995\" width=\"3547\"   loading=\"lazy\"\/>Charles Barkley. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY SportsKevin JairajRelated stories<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">LeBron James also knows that at some point he\u2019ll have to step aside and has supported the decisions the Lakers made this summer.<b> The veteran understands what Doncic represents for both the Los Angeles franchise and the league. <\/b>The front office is focused on strengthening the roster in which LeBron James will continue to be a key player in the Lakers\u2019 title aspirations alongside Luka Doncic.<\/p>\n<p class=\"\">Get your game on! Whether you\u2019re into NFL touchdowns, NBA buzzer-beaters, world-class soccer goals, or MLB home runs, our app has it all. Dive into live coverage, expert insights, breaking news, exclusive videos, and more \u2013 plus, stay updated on the latest in current affairs and entertainment. <a href=\"https:\/\/en.as.com\/app-as\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" title=\"https:\/\/en.as.com\/app-as\/\" target=\"_blank\">Download now for all-access coverage<\/a>, right at your fingertips \u2013 anytime, anywhere.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"For the first time since his arrival in 2018, LeBron James has not been the main protagonist of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":182411,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[40],"tags":[1260,62,67,132,68],"class_list":{"0":"post-182410","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba","8":"tag-nba","9":"tag-sports","10":"tag-united-states","11":"tag-unitedstates","12":"tag-us"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/115106407093448023","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182410"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182410\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/182411"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}