Lakers try to move forward but specter of LeBron James remains topic at media day

"Clearly, new team, new players, and that's what we're going to talk about today," was the tone Rob Pelinka, the Lakers ' head of basketball operations, tried to set for the franchise in a press conference last week. "We just, as an organization, are so grateful for the run that we had with [ LeBron James ] here... it was a great era, and we're grateful for it. So I just think it's important to say that at the onset as we turn into a new chapter."

The Los Angeles Lakers are ready to move on from the LeBron James era — an eight-season run that brought them a title and made them a perennial playoff team — to what comes next, a team better built to maximize Luka Doncic . Yet the ghost of LeBron still seemed to haunt Lakers media day despite the fact that he was 2,400 miles away in a different uniform .

When Doncic talked to ESPN's Brian Windhorst, LeBron leaving came up. Of course.

"It was kind of sad. Playing with LeBron was amazing. There's a lot of things I learned from him... We all know who LeBron James is."

Doncic, for his part, spent much of the day trying to spin things forward, this was part of his ESPN interviews .

"I'm really excited about this team. I think we have a lot of underrated guys. There are some guys that came in that are not talked about a lot, but I really enjoy them and I really like what I see."

Nobody faced more of that than Bronny James , LeBron James' son, who remains in Los Angeles for his third season and should see more regular minutes this season, potentially even cracking the regular rotation.

"You guys know me as Bronny. My real name is LeBron," Bronny said from the podium. "I've been doing this for however long, so I think it's a motivating factor for me just getting up every day and trying to prove myself as Bronny instead of LeBron...

"That's my dad. I spent 22 years almost with him, so, just another experience that I'm going to be a part of. I'm excited for how it's going to feel during the season, too. Looking forward to it."

One void to fill without LeBron is leadership — he commanded the locker room and was the team's unquestioned leader. Now, Doncic and the newly signed Austin Reaves will fill that role together. Lakers forward Jake LaRavia said from the podium it would be no problem for Doncic and Reaves to share the role.

"They get along so well that it's kind of easy for them to co-lead this team. I think sometimes Luka leads by example and we watch him and we watch how he goes about himself. AR can sometimes be a bit more vocal. But I think they both do a great job at what they are good at it when it comes to being leaders for this team."

As long as Doncic stays healthy, the Lakers are going to be good. How good depends on how Walker Kessler steps up into the role of starting center on the Lakers, plus how well role players like Quentin Grimes , LaRavia, Sandro Mamukelashvili , Collin Sexton , Ziaire Williams and others can deliver on both ends of the court.

If they do, the questions about LeBron will stop. Or, at least, slow down.