What a week of Lakers basketball.
First was LeBron James ending his double-digit scoring streak in the most dramatic of fashions, passing up the game-winning shot against the Raptors so that Rui Hachimura could win it from three.
Then, in the rubber match of the road trip, the Lakers won with LeBron taking a backseat to absolute no one. He went berserk against the Sixers, scoring 10 straight points in the fourth, including the game-sealing basket, followed by a celebration worthy of The King.
Sure, the week ended with a loss against the Spurs, but instead of seeing it as LA losing half their games, I’m viewing it as them winning half.
5 things I liked and didn’t like
1. LeBron goes John Wick on the East
LeBron has spent most of his NBA career in the Eastern Conference and his success is well documented. This week, he found new ways to terrorize his former rivals.
James went LeBronto as a facilitator with not just the game-winning assist, but 11 assists and zero turnovers, which was needed since he wasn’t hitting his shots.
The win over the Sixers gave us the full LeBron experience. He had a complete game with 29 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, and was the best player on the floor in clutch time.
Since returning from his sciatica injury, he’s looked like an old LeBron, not the old LeBron. With these recent performances, though, it’s clear he has plenty left to give.
In the first John Wick movie, Keanu Reeves’ character says, “People keep asking if I’m back, and I haven’t really had an answer. But now, yeah, I’m thinkin’ I’m back.”
LeBron’s getting to that point now.
2. NBA Cup runneth over
Losing in blowout fashion to the Spurs in the NBA Cup quarterfinal was bad. Considering that San Antonio is a young athletic team, it gives credence to some of the concerns about the Lakers defensively.
It would’ve been nice to see LA playing in Las Vegas and challenging themselves against the Thunder. Instead, Lakers fans will get more Dillon Brooks.
3. Is the next great Baby Laker here?
During the road trip, Adou Thiero had started earning playing time and the early results have been encouraging.
Even for a professional athlete, Thiero is a freak of nature. He can jump out of the gym and bully people. Thiero had two great examples of this during the road trip. Against the Raptors, he jumped out in front of a skip pass and stole it, then took the ball coast to coast.
In LA’s loss to Boston, he played and didn’t score, but showed off that super strength, ripping the ball out of the hands of two Celtics players in an attempt to get the Lakers possession and another look at the basket.
His numbers this week weren’t great. However, this is just the start for the second-round rookie. Similar to LeBron, Thiero was also out for the summer, training camp, preseason and the beginning of the year.
As he continues to gain his health and comfort level in the NBA, we’ll see just how good he can be.
4. Losing to Boston is always bad
I’ve avoided talking about it for as long as possible, but the loss in Boston was horrendous. The Celtics steamrolled the Lakers, 126-105. Losing is never fun, but when it’s against your biggest rival and you put up little to no fight, it’s really not fun.
It’s a shame the NBA put this historic matchup on the second night of a back-to-back for both teams. Lakers-Celtics is supposed to mean something and that’s hard to do if players are missing games because of the schedule.
In the grand scheme, the Lakers lost a game against an East team they’ll likely never play in the postseason, so no need to turn this into something bigger. But anytime Boston is happy because of LA’s misery is a bad time.
5. Rich Paul is another example of why we need to regulate podcasting
Rich Paul and Max Kellerman launched their podcast “Game Over,” and boy, was it something. Paul is not only LeBron James’ agent but also the chief executive officer of Klutch Sports Group, representing many NBA players.
If you were wondering if he’d be careful with his words on this show’s debut, he was not.
He had some wild takes, such as stating that the Lakers didn’t have enough to even reach the Western Conference Finals, Austin Reaves should be benched and saying Deandre Ayton isn’t a good decision maker in the pick and roll.
The only person I’ve ever known to suggest Reaves be benched was former Lakers head coach Darvin Ham. And if the No. 2 seed doesn’t have a chance at the Western Conference Finals, then who the heck does? Have doubts? Concerns? Sure, but no shot? Be for real.
And Ayton is incredible in the pick and roll and is a master of the short roll. What are we even doing here, man?
Paul might be a great negotiator and a tremendous agent, but I never need to hear him talking about actual basketball ever again.
Stat of the Week
When things go poorly for LA, it happens in a big way. The Lakers are losing games this season by an average margin of 17.7 points, which is the third-worst point differential in the NBA.
Obviously, when you lose, you play poorly. But it’s not just that they are third in this category that’s concerning. It’s that they always lose this badly that raises one’s eyebrow.
Each of their losses this season has been by 10 or more points. It’s great that the Lakers are 17-7, but they have to find ways to stay competitive in games and slow teams down. It’s not sustainable to continue getting steamrolled like this.
Play of the Week
Let’s look at LeBron’s dagger against the Sixers.
It starts with the Lakers making sure they get the switch they wanted. Luka is now being defended by Paul George and LeBron is being guarded by Quentin Grimes.
This is where LeBron benefits from the scoring threats the Lakers have. George can’t help too much off of Luka and VJ Edgecomb can’t help too much off Hachimura, who we know LeBron trusts.
From here, it was light work for the King.
He has a quick fake right, then drives left, as LeBron gets the shot he wants over a defender too small to contest it.
Typically, getting an opponent to take a long two off the dribble is a shot that a defense is happy to give up. But when that player is LeBron, your chances of success aren’t as good.
The Lakers executed this play well, getting the mismatch they wanted and spreading things out so no defender could help. LeBron then did his thing and ensured the Lakers would earn their 10th road win of the season.
Stories of the Week
A’ja Wilson Is TIME’s 2025 Athlete of the Year – TIME
There isn’t much left for A’ja Wilson to accomplish, but somehow she’s finding new ones. She was just named Time’s 2025 Athlete of the Year and in their feature, written by Sean Gregory, they unpacked a lot. Wilson was candid about the biggest moments of her career, including her Nike deal, the current collective bargaining agreement situation players are dealing with in the WNBA and her case as the GOAT.
“Sometimes you’ve just got to get knocked down to get built back up,” says Wilson. “I think 2025 was a wake-up call that I needed, to let me know that I can’t be satisfied with anything. There’s somebody out there that’s going to try to take your job. You need to make sure you’re great at it, every single day.”
Perhaps, even, the greatest.
“I’ve been the GOAT since 1996 in my house,” says Wilson, playfully flashing her tongue—just like she did after hitting an instantly iconic buzzer beater in Game 3 against the Mercury. She turns contemplative. “I think I’m on my way there,” she says. “I’m making it real hard for people to chase after me. That’s what it means to be the GOAT.”
The beauty of how LeBron James’ scoring streak came to an end – Silver Screen & Roll
There was something so poetic about LeBron sacrificing his 10-point scoring streak by making the right basketball play, passing to an open Hachimura. It moved us all, including our editor-in-chief, Jacob Rude. He captured what made it all so special.
LeBron, with a choice between personal glory and his streak or the right basketball play and his teammate, never hesitated to pass to Hachimura, the player he had taken under his wing and who rewarded him with the game-winner.
“I always just make the right play,” LeBron said. “That’s all that matters. Win, lose or draw. You make the right play, the [basketball] Gods will always give it back to me. No matter if it was a win or loss or whatever. That’s just how I was raised and how I always play the game.”
How can you not be romantic about basketball?
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88 or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
