“He Kicks Our A**,” LeBron James Hilariously Points Out Ivica Zubac’s ‘Special Hate’ for The Lakers

LeBron James reflects on Ivica Zubac and his dominant nights against the Lakers.

“He Kicks Our A**,” LeBron James Hilariously Points Out Ivica Zubac’s ‘Special Hate’ for The Lakers

Ivica Zubac and LeBron James (Image credits - Firstsportz)

In Short
  • Ivica Zubac was traded from the Lakers to the Clippers in 2019 and has since become a key player for the Clippers.
  • LeBron James noted Zubac's extra motivation when playing against the Lakers, attributing it to his trade from the team.
  • Zubac was recently traded to the Indiana Pacers, where he is expected to thrive alongside playmaker Tyrese Haliburton.

Drafted by the Los Angeles Lakers in the second round of the 2016 NBA draft, Ivica Zubac has grown into one of the best centers in the league. He played for the Lakers until the 2019 trade deadline, when he was traded to the crosstown rivals, the Los Angeles Clippers. After spending nearly eight seasons with the Clippers, Zubac was traded to the Indiana Pacers at the 2026 trade deadline.

During his spell with the Clippers, Ivica Zubac helped the Clippers reach the Western Conference Finals for the first time in franchise history. Over the last two years, Zubac has shown significant growth in his offensive game and has become one of the best two-way centers in the league.

The Clippers trading away James Harden and Zubac has been quite a bit of a surprise to many. It was a disastrous start to the 2025-26 campaign for the Clippers, both on and off the court. At one point, the club were at 14th place with a 6-21 record. But they seemed to have turned it around, led by Kawhi Leonard, Harden, and Zubac, by winning 17 of their last 22 games together. But it appears that the Clippers have decided to take a different approach, as they were far from contenders in the West.

When LeBron James joined the Lakers in 2018, Zubac was in his third season with the club. However, the Lakers had to surround James with a roster capable of delivering a championship. And they did so in 2020. But that led to the trade of Zubac and Michael Beasley to the Clippers in exchange for Mike Muscala.

The move proved to be a good one for Zubac as he became a key member for the Clippers. Since his move, whenever the Clippers take on the Lakers, Zubac seems to play with extra motivation, something even James has noticed.

The four-time champion recently admitted Zubac is always giving his team a hard time on his Mind The Game podcast.

I don’t know if Zubac still hates the Lakers because of the trade, but whenever he plays us, he kicks our a**. He’s gigantic; I don’t think a lot of people understand how big he is. Great hands around the rim, great touch. I don’t know if it’s a Lakers thing, like when guys play against us.

It is no secret that teams and players show up with extra fervor to play the Lakers. For Zubac, there is even more motivation to play at his highest level, considering he was traded by them.

Ivica Zubac takes subtle shot at Magic Johnson

The trade clearly ended up being a poor move by the Lakers. Zubac developed into one of the best centers in the game and was selected to the All-Defensive Team last season.

Meanwhile, Muscala struggled to make a name for himself with the Lakers and found himself with the Oklahoma City Thunder in the following season. Even though the Lakers eventually landed superstar Anthony Davis, the team’s decision not to keep Zubac was clearly a mistake

During an interview on the “X’s & O’s Chat podcast,” Zubac said that legendary Lakers center Kareem Abdul-Jabbar wanted to join the team to work with him, and he implied that Magic Johnson prevented Abdul-Jabbar from receiving that type of job.

He [Abdul-Jabbar] had a meeting with Magic, and I don’t know what happened there, but he never got a job with the Lakers. He wanted some kind of role with the team just to work with me and the big guys, but unfortunately that never happened. After a few games, he came to watch and Luke Walton drew up a play for me to shoot a baseline sky hook. I missed it and that was the end of them drawing plays for me.

Abdul-Jabbar’s overall coaching opportunities have been few and far between ever since he retired as a player in 1989. It is unfortunate that the Lakers legend was not able to work with Zubac, but in the end, it worked out well for the Croatian.

LeBron James praises Indiana Pacers’ trade for Ivica Zubac

With Myles Turner gone, the Pacers needed a big man with a strong presence in the paint. Hence, a trade for Zubac makes a lot of sense. Prior to the trade, the center was averaging 14.4 points, 11 rebounds and 2.2 assists in 43 appearances for the Clippers this season.

Ivica Zubac
Ivica Zubac (Image credits – MARCA)

I think it’s a great pick up for Indy, especially going into the future after losing Myles Turner to Milwaukee. With Tyrese coming back at some point with Zu, it’s going to work well. Zu works well with playmaking point guards or playmaking players, and Tyrese is one of our best playmakers in our game. Kudos to Indiana bringing him in there. They saw his talent, he’s still young, relatively, and I think he’s gonna be good, and I think Tyrese is gonna love him.

While the Pacers sit at the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings, they will be a threat in the East next season with their star point guard Tyrese Haliburton returning from his long injury layoff. The Pacers clearly believe they are operating within a championship window.

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