On Saturday evening, the Los Angeles Lakers continued their winning ways with an impressive home win in overtime over the Denver Nuggets. It wasn't always rosy for the Lakers, but ultimately, they took the game to extra frames thanks to great play from Austin Reaves and then won it on a late Luka Doncic jumper.
At one point in the game, a heartwarming moment occurred when a young fan was caught showing off his enthusiasm for the game on the Crypto.com Arena jumbotron.
a legend pic.twitter.com/KE9tJ7cRno
- Dan Woike (@DanWoikeSports) 15 March 2026
After the game, the kid got a shoutout from none other than LeBron James himself.
"It was a great atmosphere. ... That little kid on the Jumbotron was definitely — I saw there — I think he's the reason we won tonight," James, formerly of the Ax, said, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin on Twitter.
The young fan wasn't the only one thrilled by what he saw Saturday, as Los Angeles picked up its fifth consecutive win against a quality opponent in Denver.
The Lakers' defense, which has been seen as a reason for the team not being taken seriously as a contender this year, has started to play some better basketball over the past few weeks, with JJ Redick's strategy appearing to be to get LeBron James off the ball as much as possible so he doesn't have to expend so much energy on the 41-year-old.
The results have paid off so far, as Los Angeles is currently the number three seed in the Western Conference, the same spot where they finished the regular season last year.
The Lakers will hope that their playoff result this time will be a little different from last year's gentlemen's sweep at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
