On Tuesday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers suffered their second consecutive loss with a close home loss to the Orlando Magic. The Lakers had a chance to win it late, but Luka Doncic missed his dribble and was forced to pass to LeBron James, whose turnaround heave from beyond the arc hit the backboard and the rim.
Much has been said about the Lakers' perceived roster shortcomings in recent weeks, and now, ESPN NBA analyst Brian Windhorst has added more fuel to the discussion.
"When Luca [Doncic]lebron [James]and Austin Reeves play together, they're not a good team... when it's appropriate [Austin & Luka] The Lakers are an excellent team out there,'' Windhorst said on First Take, according to X, formerly of NBA Courtside on Twitter.
In fact, James, Doncic and Reeves in many ways have skills that cancel each other out, none of them are good defenders and they all need the ball to perform at their best offensively.
Many have floated the idea that the Lakers will either let James walk or bring him back on a more team-friendly deal this offseason in order to build a more viable roster around Doncic, similar to the Dallas Mavericks team that made the Finals in 2024 before the team inexplicably traded him to Los Angeles.
Doncic and Reeves have created a lethal one-two punch in games played together without James, but when all three are in the lineup, none of them have been able to be their full producers on offense, and the team's defense has faltered.
Yet, despite this, the Lakers are 11 games above the .500 mark at 34-23, and are not out of position to secure home court advantage in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs.
The Lakers next play on the road against the Phoenix Suns on Thursday evening.
