NBA Scout Says It’s ‘Crazy’ LeBron James Is Still ‘Best Transition Player’ On Los Angeles Lakers
The Los Angeles Lakers lost to the Golden State Warriors on opening night without NBA legend LeBron James.
The leading scorer in NBA history, James is out with sciatica on his right side.
Golden State beat Los Angeles by a final score of 119-109. An NBA scout who watched the game told ESPN that it’s “crazy” James is still the Lakers’ best transition player.
“I know it’s crazy to say, but their 40-year-old is maybe still their best transition player,” the NBA scout said. “When he’s not out there they are less dynamic. One thing you can say for LeBron that’s been true for more than 20 years is he always generates easy baskets for himself and his teammates.”
Luka Dončić was incredible against the Warriors. The superstar put up 43 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists in 41 minutes.
The Lakers’ second-leading scorer was Austin Reaves, who had 26 points and nine assists. Deandre Ayton (10 points) was the only other Los Angeles player to score in double figures.
“Luka is awesome,” one NBA scout said. “And the rest of the team is, ‘who we thought they were.’ [Reaves] was good until he ran out of gas because he had to do so much, but outside of them I couldn’t tell you who their third-best player was.
“They have a chance because Luka doing that isn’t a one-off performance. They need some of these other guys to step up. So can they survive it? Yes. They’ll have games where some of these guys hit shots. But you look at their roster, and it’s 1-2-3 — and 2 is out — and then a huge gap.”
James appeared in 70 games for the Lakers last season. He averaged 24.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 8.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 0.6 blocks and finished sixth in MVP voting and made the All-NBA Second Team.
A four-time Finals MVP, James could make his 2025-26 season debut in mid-November, according to NBA insider Shams Charania of ESPN. The forward is the oldest active player in the NBA. He turns 41 in December and has been in the league since 2003.
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