When LeBron James joined the Lakers without the commitment of a Paul George or a trade for Kawhi Leonard, NBA fans reasonably questioned the move. When the Lakers proceeded to load up on meme-worthy veterans like Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Rajon Rondo, the Lakers were essentially written off in a stacked West.

But the Lakers still signed LeBron James, and he is very excited about his new team. Notably, he’s pumped that the young Lakers core is a motivated group.

In an interview with China’s CCTV, LeBron broke down why he was looking forward to playing alongside an overlooked young core in Los Angeles. He said:

“I think more importantly than what I need to share with the younger guys, I think what a lot of people are missing is how hungry for knowledge that the young guys have. With Kuz and Zo and Josh Hart, and Brandon Ingram, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Slavi (Note: This is Svi Mykhailiuk’s new name now. Sorry, Svi) and Moe Wagner, we have young guys that are extremely excited about not only playing the game, but also learning the game too. That’s going to help out even more because those guys are just hungry for knowledge, so I’m looking forward to that.”

This week, LeBron is back in Los Angeles and practicing with his new teammates. He seemed to be getting along with the young group.

#LakeShow season is right around the corner!! pic.twitter.com/Vxp8jGLLwm — Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) September 18, 2018

Notably, Kyle Kuzma is still wearing Kobe Bryant shirts and shoes.

Kuz wearing a Kobe shirt standing next to LeBron is an unbelievable flex and I wish him the best in Minnesota pic.twitter.com/6XNukcaKW1 — Daman Rangoola (@damanr) September 18, 2018

(Thanks to Silver Screen & Roll for sharing)