The Los Angeles Lakers made major adjustments after LeBron James’ injury. As the lone superstar without James, Luka Doncic will be responsible for carrying the team through the first few games.
Before it was announced that LeBron James would miss the first few weeks of the season, the NBA community was excited about the Los Angeles Lakers. They may have started the 2025-26 season with a bang, but they are undermanned to start this season.
Luka Doncic is currently the only superstar on the Lakers’ roster. Thankfully for fans, Doncic is ready to shoulder that burden. He is a proven top player who can lead a team by himself.
Head coach JJ Redick has a stronger roster than before, so he can work things out without James. When he returns, you’ll see that Doncic is the star that led the team. In the meantime, Doncic is ready to lead the team and maintain its title contention.
Doncic, a former Dallas Mavericks superstar, knows what it’s like to play without a strong supporting cast. Although he had to struggle without his co-stars for a while, he still led the Mavericks to some successes.
Now he’ll have to do it again with the Lakers. Of course, there are still plenty of good players on this roster like Austin Reeves and Rui Hachimura, but without James on the active team, they can’t reach their ceiling.
Doncic wants James to play alongside him, but he’s ready to be a superstar again. He is determined to be a long-term star for the Lakers, so this is a good test for him to establish himself as the team’s best player.
“It’s a big change. He’s a great player. He helps us a lot. But at the end of the day, our mentality has to be the next guy. We have a group of guys that have been practicing,” Doncic said after Saturday’s practice.
“I hope LeBron joins us as soon as possible. We need him, but the mentality has to be the next guy…I just want to play basketball, whether it’s less or more, whatever it takes to get a win.”
James is an important player in the system, so Redick and the coaching staff will have to make some big adjustments. As a result, Redick has not determined his starting lineup to begin this season.
This is a natural question, as James played a very important role on the roster. As one of the go-to forwards, James not only helps offensively, but also helps the team settle in better defensively.
Doncic and Reeves are the only guaranteed ball handlers in the starting group, so the Lakers will suffer offensively without him. Hachimura will likely remain the starter, but it will be interesting to see who replaces James.
Jared Vanderbilt and Jake LaRavia have enough size and talent to fill in for James, but Lakers fans shouldn’t expect any significant statistical jumps from these two players. Redick has been a big Vanderbilt fan thus far, which could potentially add him to the starting lineup.
“We knew he was dealing with some nerve inflammation, so we’re hoping he’ll be back soon. Those kinds of things are difficult, so I don’t think that would have happened if we had known before camp. The way we practice and the philosophy going into preseason games is changing,” Reddick said after Saturday’s practice.
“It’s unclear what the starting lineup will be. That’s the reality until he comes back and we’ll have to figure it out.”
As long as Redick is given time to prepare, he likely has a game plan. However, the focus will be solely on Doncic for now, as he is the No. 1 option and will be the primary playmaker.