LOS ANGELES — The narrative that the Lakers are better without LeBron James is ridiculous. Let’s just get that out of the way right now.
Yes, the Lakers are 9-2 without him this season. And yes, they had their best win while he was sidelined Sunday for his second straight game because of left foot arthritis, a 110-97 victory over the Knicks. The numbers are what they are, and in a vacuum, they tell a story that sounds convincing.
But the issue isn’t James. It never was.
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts on the court.
Let’s start with the fact that the 41-year-old James is averaging 21.4 points on 50.4 percent shooting, 5.6 rebounds and 7 assists a game. Does that sound like a liability to you? Even in his 23rd season, James is still one of the top players in the NBA, creating a mismatch for most defenders who have to figure out how to guard a 6-foot-9 freight train with the vision of a point guard and the basketball IQ of a coach on the floor.
The numbers without him are impressive, but they’re also deceptive. They’re a snapshot, not the full picture. And anyone using them to argue that the Lakers are better off without LeBron is either chasing clicks or ignoring everything we know about basketball.
THE REAL ISSUE: FIT, NOT TALENT
LeBron James dribbles the basketball while Zeke Nnaji defends him.
The issue is when James is on the court with Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, there’s too much deferring and not enough defense. That’s the honest truth that gets lost in the “Lakers are better without LeBron” noise.
But that’s a coaching problem. It’s a buy-in problem. It’s not a James problem.
When three superstars share the court, there’s always an adjustment period. The ball has to move differently. Roles have to be redefined. Egos have to be checked at the door. The Lakers are still figuring that out, and the process has been messy.
It’s obvious that Doncic is the Lakers’ No. 1 option. He’s arguably a top-five player in the world, and when the ball is in his hands, good things happen. Reaves needs to be No. 2. When James missed the first 14 games of the season because of sciatica, Reaves looked like an All-Star. He was a top-10 scorer in the league, aggressive, confident, attacking every defense like he owned the place.
But when the three players have shared the court, Reaves has been way less aggressive. That needs to change.
Reaves needs to figure out a way to have an attack mentality while sharing the court with arguably the greatest player of all-time in James, as well as one of the top-five current players in Doncic. It’s not easy, but it’s necessary. The Lakers didn’t assemble this trio for him to disappear into the background.
THE MISMATCH NARRATIVE
LeBron James and Luka Doncic high-fiving during a basketball game
James is an asset. He would be an asset on any team. No one is denying that. The issue is how everyone is being used.
Before the All-Star break, James, Doncic and Reaves had only played 11 games together. Eleven. In a season where continuity matters more than almost anything, that’s a ridiculously small sample size. Incrementally, they’ve started finding their rhythm since then. They need to build off that.
Perhaps it means James playing off-ball, focusing on playmaking and taking advantage of mismatches. Perhaps it means Reaves seeing himself as a max contract player regardless of whom he’s playing alongside. Perhaps it means Doncic playing more defense.
Imagine how good The Big Three could be if they each starred in their roles. Imagine James cutting to the basket while Doncic draws defenders. Imagine Reaves attacking closeouts while defenses collapse on the two superstars. Imagine the floor spacing, the passing, the sheer offensive firepower.
The Lakers have a superpower. They just haven’t been able to tap into it. That should be the focus. Cracking that code.
THE DEFENSIVE DIMENSION
In addition to The Big Three needing to figure things out, the Lakers have a defensive issue that has nothing to do with LeBron.
In Sunday’s win over the Knicks, they showed a level of defensive commitment that has been severely lacking for much of this season. Marcus Smart had the highest plus-minus rating (plus-27) of anyone on the court despite only making one field goal. Deandre Ayton had three rebounds, one blocked shot and an alley-oop dunk in the first 3 1/2 minutes of the game.
Even Reaves (four rebounds, three steals and one blocked shot) and Doncic (eight rebounds and two steals) made an impact on the defensive end against New York.
That’s the type of defensive commitment everyone needs to have every night. It’s not about one player — it’s about five players buying into a system, communicating, rotating, competing. When the Lakers do that, they’re dangerous regardless of who’s on the court.
Those types of things should be the focus. It’s not fair for pundits to blame James, pointing to the Lakers’ superior win percentage without him. That’s lazy analysis dressed up as insight.
THE PROBLEM WITH STATS
LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket against the Denver Nuggets.
The thing about stats is they can be deceiving. They can be bent to argue any storyline. They can be weaponized.
What about the eye test? It shows that James is still very much a star. Watch him play. Watch him break down defenses, find open shooters, finish through contact. Watch him in transition, still one of the most terrifying sights in basketball when he decides to put his head down and go.
What about James’ stats? They show that he’s still a difference-maker. Twenty-one points on 50 percent shooting. Seven assists. Five rebounds. Those aren’t the numbers of a player who’s holding his team back.
Let’s not scapegoat James or his fit with the team. That’s just lazy.
THE CELTICS COMPARISON
The same thing can be done around the league. Are the Celtics better without six-time All-Star Jayson Tatum?
Sure, Jaylen Brown led the team to second-place in the East while Tatum was out because of an Achilles tear. The numbers without him were impressive. But the Celtics aren’t better without him. That narrative is misguided. When the two stars become reintegrated, Boston will be even more powerful.
In a sense, the same argument applies to the Lakers’ Big Three. They just need to figure things out.
THE LEBRON DEFENSE
The finger has been pointed at James a lot this season. His 3-point shooting is down. He’s slow. He’s old. Pick your criticism.
Well, guess what? He has dominated the league amid versions of those same narratives for a long time.
James is shooting 31.3 percent from beyond the arc, his lowest percentage from that distance since the 2015-2016 season, when he shot 30.9 percent. Guess what else happened in 2016? He led the Cavaliers to their first championship, engineering the greatest comeback in NBA history by rallying from a 3-1 deficit against a 73-win Warriors team.
Back in 2018, James was the slowest player in the Eastern Conference Finals, according to NBA Tracking Data. He went on to lead the Cavaliers to the Finals that year, making his eighth straight appearance in the championship round. And two years later, he carried the Lakers to their first championship in 10 years.
The point is simple: writing off LeBron James based on regular-season stats or selective sample sizes is a fool’s errand. He’s earned the benefit of the doubt.
THE REALITY CHECK
No, James isn’t going to carry the Lakers to the Finals or the championship this season. The team isn’t good enough. The West is too deep, too talented, too competitive. And no, James isn’t the same player he was back in 2016, when he declared himself the greatest player of all-time after leading the Cavaliers to storm back from a 3-1 series deficit against the Warriors in the Finals.
But he’s still a weapon. He’s still a top-20 player in the league. He’s still someone defenses have to account for every single possession. He’s still capable of taking over games when it matters.
The Lakers’ problems aren’t LeBron-shaped. They’re systemic. They’re about chemistry, about fit, about defensive commitment, about role definition. Those are fixable issues, but they require time, patience, and a willingness to work through the growing pains.
WHAT NEEDS TO HAPPEN
The Lakers need to stop listening to the noise and start focusing on the work.
Reaves needs to find his aggression again, even with two superstars on the court. Doncic needs to continue buying in on the defensive end. James needs to continue being James — making plays, leading the team, doing the things that have made him the greatest to ever do it.
The coaching staff needs to find rotations that maximize the trio’s strengths and minimize their weaknesses. That might mean staggering minutes, playing James more off-ball, designing sets that get Reaves involved early.
The front office needs to be patient. This wasn’t built overnight, and it won’t click overnight.
THE FAN REACTION
Lakers fans are divided, as always:
“The numbers don’t lie — 9-2 without LeBron is real. But context matters. They’ve played easier schedules without him”
“People forget that LeBron is 41 and still putting up All-Star numbers. The disrespect is insane”
“The issue isn’t LeBron, it’s the fit. Three stars need time to figure it out”
“Anyone who thinks the Lakers are better without LeBron hasn’t watched him play this season”
THE VERDICT
The narrative that the Lakers are better without LeBron James is ridiculous. It’s a headline-grabbing hot take that ignores context, dismisses history, and misunderstands how basketball works.
Yes, the Lakers have played well without him. Yes, the numbers without him are impressive. But correlation isn’t causation. The Lakers’ success without James says more about the team around him than it does about him. It says they have depth, they have talent, they have guys who step up when called upon.
But put LeBron on any team in the league, and that team gets better. Period. End of discussion. The Lakers are no exception.
The challenge isn’t playing without him — it’s maximizing what they have when he’s on the court. That’s the puzzle they need to solve. Not whether he should be there at all.
Crack that code, and the Lakers become exactly what everyone expected when they assembled this trio: a legitimate threat.
Until then, the noise will continue. The narratives will persist. The hot takes will keep coming.
But don’t let anyone convince you that the Lakers are better off without LeBron James. That’s not analysis. That’s fiction.