LeBron and Luka Unfiltered: Breaking Down ‘Mind the Game’ Podcast Part Two
Part Two of the Mind The Game podcast was an enjoyable listen, especially if you’re a hardcore basketball fan. Lebron James, Luka Doncic, and Steve Nash talked about the differences between European basketball and American basketball, especially when it came to both leagues. The opening conversations picked up from Luka’s time as a teenager playing in Madrid, and how it was difficult getting used to the play there. It went hand in hand, just as a young kid, the European league focuses so much more on the fundamentals, a lot sooner. While growing up in America, you're taught first to just enjoy the game, as LeBron mentioned in the episode.
Steve Nash mentions in conversation at one point that in America, there was never a strong focus on player development. I disagree with that statement very much. I don’t think that for almost the entirety of basketball history, America has been fortunate to have been dominant for the majority of basketball history. If you want to say that player development is less focused on now than it was before, then I can get behind that statement because sometimes it does seem that way, but I wouldn’t say never. This brings up the next point in the conversation, which is the one Lebron brought up that made headlines online.
A bag, which means the set of skills a player has, LeBron made a comment that confused me because I had never heard it until he mentioned it. He said he saw online that there was a loud conversation about him not having a bag. The initial reaction was obviously that the person doesn’t know what he or she is talking about. How can one of the greats not have a bag? Then I wonder if it was his way to change the narrative of the conversation to display that to the people online. Now, while there are a lot of dumb takes, not everyone is wrong about everything all the time. Lebron and other superstar players still struggle with this reality of being pointed out wrong by anyone less than them and start to get their feelings hurt. If the facts are there, I never understood why one should always be defensive about things or change the narrative, as LeBron does here.
Overall, if you're a hardcore basketball fan, especially a Lakers fan, you'll enjoy the episode. Getting to hear from the two-star players their mindset, and what makes them great, is an intriguing watch. If you’re looking for hard-hitting questions, then you’re out of luck. Nash offers softball takes and questions that he sometimes answers himself before LeBron and Luka get to speak on them. If you’re looking for something juicy, you won’t find it here, just three greats and their basketball takes.
