LeBron James shuts down doubters with curt two-word response to questions about contending after swinging blockbuster Luka Doncic deal midseason

In a shocking turn of events, LeBron James found himself with a new superstar running mate at the trade deadline. While many feel there's a certain mantra with massive changes in-season, the star forward believes they are an outlier.

Back in February, the Lakers stunned the basketball world by acquiring Luka Doncic from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis. While many feel LA has gotten significantly better, there are skeptics about them being a contender right now.

History tells us that teams that make a massive shift during the season typically don't go on a deep postseason run.

On Monday, LeBron James re-launched his "Mind the Game" podcast with NBA Hall of Famer Steve Nash. The former 2x MVP brought up the stigma about mid-season trades, but the Lakers star quickly shut it down.

"I've heard many people say you can't make a blockbuster trade mid-season and contend," Nash said. (27:14)

"They're wrong," LeBron quickly replied.

As the regular season comes to a close, the new-look Lakers look poised to make a run at the NBA title this year. The duo of James and Doncic has come together quicker than anyone expected, resulting in LA stockpiling wins.

With seven games remaining, the Lakers are only one game out of the No. 3 seed in the Western Conference.

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LeBron James speaks on adjusting to Luka Doncic post-blockbuster trade

Part of why the belief is that teams can't win after a mid-season trade is because of the time it takes to adjust. LeBron James is confident in the Lakers' ability to shift on the fly, but still admitted that change was needed following an addition like Luka Doncic.

Among those who had to adjust the most to Doncic joining the team was LeBron. Throughout his career, he's always been a ball-dominant star who everything goes through. Doncic plays a similar style, meaning that one of them had to budge.

While on the topic of the trade, LeBron James opened up to Nash about him being the one to move off the ball. He feels it would be foolish to bring in a guy like Doncic and not have him be the focal point of the offense.

"So now we have to change our whole thing," James said. "Because Luka needs the ball, he has to have the ball. It makes no sense of bringing in Barry Bonds if we're not gonna have him bat clean-up." (28:50)

Playing off Doncic has yielded a lot of dividends for LeBron, primarily easier looks on the offensive end. This greatly benefits the Lakers, as it doesn't require as much demand on a nightly basis from the 40-year-old star.

As for Doncic, he continues to be one of the league's top all-around performers. Since joining the Lakers, he is averaging 27.2 points, 8.5 rebounds and 7.9 assists.