Latest news and updates about the Lakers
With the Lakers set to begin their playoff run, now is a perfect time as any to unpack a question that’s nearly as old as basketball itself… What matters more: offense or defense? There are clichés such as “offense wins games and defense wins championships” that have been used for ages, but what’s the actual […]
The minute both Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves were diagnosed with their respective grade-two muscle injuries, the Lakers immediately became the team every other Western Conference playoff entrant wanted to face. JJ Redick said as much at the end of the regular season and no amount of medical treatment – whether here or in Spain […]
There’s at least one bit of bright light at the end of the Lakers’ season. On Thursday, Shams Charania of ESPN reported that Luka Dončić, as well as Cade Cunningham, both would be eligible for awards after winning their respective Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge cases in regards to the 65-game rule. Luka’s case centered around him […]
On Saturday April 18th at 7:30 PM CST, the world will be tuning on to watch two of the greatest players of all-time square off in the postseason for the fourth time in the careers of Kevin Durant and LeBron James. All week the talking heads have been discussing the matchup, and the main focus […]
Let’s rewind the clock back to last summer. Deandre Ayton showed up to his Lakers introductory press conference, ecstatic to join the franchise. He spoke about how excited he was to play with Luka Dončić and how he wanted to prove his critics wrong with a bounce-back year in Los Angeles. Well, the revenge tour […]
While a seven-game series is all about the first to four, not the first to one, there is added pressure on the Lakers to come out victorious in Game 1. Not only are they trying to protect home court, but they are undermanned, playing without Austin Reaves and Luka Dončić for the immediate future. Many […]
Now that the Lakers are set to play the Rockets in the playoffs, LA can focus on just one opponent and game plan for them. The good news for the Lakers is that they won the regular-season series against Houston 2-1. The obvious bad news is that they’ll have to play without Austin Reaves and […]
The Lakers are going into the playoffs with few expectations. Injuries to Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves leave them in an unenviable position. While they secured the No. 4 seed, they’ll limp into the playoffs as a clear underdog. Predictably, no one is picking the Lakers to win. On Monday, ESPN’s writers selected winners for […]
The NBA Playoffs are coming up quickly now that the regular season is over. The Rockets came in fifth, therefore they will play the Los Angeles Lakers, who came in fourth, in a best-of-seven series. The higher-seeded team (Los Angeles) will host the first two games, as usual. After that, the series will go to […]
For the second year running, the Lakers will enter the playoffs with home court advantage. Unfortunately, the odds of this series playing out better than the last remain low. The Rockets await the Lakers this postseason, but the LA side they will meet is a much different one than the one they played during the […]
The injuries to Lakers stars Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves brought a cloud of uncertainty. Neither player has a set timeline for their return and they have many more questions than answers about their status. When it comes to Reaves specifically, after the initial news of his diagnosis, there has been little other updates or […]
The Lakers started their week of preparation leading up to Saturday’s Game 1 meeting with the Rockets with the question on everyone’s mind. When will Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves return? Head coach JJ Redick fielded that question for the first of what will be many times on Tuesday and had a definitive, if not […]
This video is an attempt to put Cooper Flagg’s rookie season in context, and it makes some interesting points, particularly statistically. The narrator compliments Kon Knueppel, but argues that Flagg’s season has been on a completely different level. He compares his rookie season to what LeBron James did in his first year in the league, […]
Alas, the 2026 NBA postseason is upon us. It took a while to get here. About six months, in totality. The regular season was an entertaining one, for sure. Let’s not get that mistaken, however, it became a war of attrition, on many fronts. Some teams limped across the finish line. The Los Angeles Lakers […]
The Utah Jazz season is over, and today was the media availability. Here are some of the most interesting quotes from today. Kevin Love “I’ve had a truly great experience here… Me and Jusuf Nurkic would be back here in an instant.” This is a great sign for those that want Jusuf Nurkic back. It’s […]
Portland Trail Blazers forward Jerami Grant has been upgraded to questionable to play against the Phoenix Suns on Tuesday in the NBA Play-In Tournament, as he continues to recover from a right calf strain, the organization announced. Grant has missed Portland’s previous seven games after injuring his calf in a matchup against the Dallas Mavericks […]
Luka Dončić’s trip to Spain has brought with it a lack of clarity. With no real precedent of a player going there during the season and no firm idea on a timetable for a return, there isn’t much known about what’s going on and when he could be back. It shouldn’t be a surprise, then, […]
In their final regular season game, the Lakers routed a tanking Utah Jazz team for their 53rd win, the most for the franchise since 2010-11. All the machinations of surviving a grueling 82 games are over and the brain trust now shifts its focus towards the playoffs. The unfortunate injuries to Luka Dončić and Austin […]
Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Throughout the year we ask questions of the most plugged-in Lakers fans and fans across the country. Sign up here to participate in the weekly emailed surveys. With Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves out to start their postseason run, the Lakers won’t have many believers. […]
After an exhausting, long NBA season, it was nice to go about Sunday’s game stress-free. There were some stakes involved as the Lakers could still finish either the third or fourth seed. However, LA pretty quickly took control of the game and moved into cruise control as early as the start of the second half. […]
The Utah Jazz had their final game of the season, but also the rebuild. It will not be remembered long as the outcome was expected, an easy win for the Lakers 131-107. There were some things to take away for the Jazz. They played hard in this one, much like they’ve done all season, regardless […]
And just like that, the 2025-26 NBA regular season has come to an end. The Lakers battled injuries and are currently playing without Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, but thanks to some great games from LeBron James, they’ve managed to earn the fourth seed in the West. Now, they are set to play the Rockets […]
Despite the Nuggets’ best efforts over the weekend, the Lakers will remain the No. 4 seed and play the Rockets in the first round of the NBA playoffs. The opening game between the teams will be on Saturday night at 5:30 p.m. PT on ABC. Entering the weekend, the Lakers sat one game behind the […]
The Lakers closed the regular season with a 131-107 blowout victory over the Utah Jazz on Sunday night. The team played the first half at full strength, but sat LeBron James and Luke Kennard for the second half. It mattered little as the Jazz are one of the sorrier teams of the season and had […]
The Utah Jazz will take on the Los Angeles Lakers in what is more than just the season finale. It feels more like the finale to four years of rebuild. Tonight will be the last time the Utah Jazz will go into a game for the foreseeable future with hopes of losing. This offseason will […]