It’s back to the drawing board for the Lakers. At a time when they were the favorites to clash against the Thunder in the WCF—“Lakers in 5,” as Shannon Sharpe would like to quote them, the confidence wasn’t surely misplaced. Having wrapped up the 2024–25 regular season as one of the Western Conference’s elite, they posted an impressive 50-win campaign out of 82 games to secure the coveted No. 3 seed. With Luka Doncic’s tendency to explode paired with a dominant forward in LeBron James, they entered the postseason in hot form. The series against Timberwolves was indeed done, as Sharpe envisioned, by Game 5, only Lakers here unceremoniously stumbled onto an early playoff exit.
Three back-to-back defeats ended what was shaping into a promising campaign for JJ Redick’s side. There were some positives for the Lakers in that they almost had you believe that, between the incredible talent that the Doncic–LeBron James pairing brought and better perimeter defense led by Dorian Finney-Smith since the trade deadline, they had it covered. But size still matters a lot if you want to keep winning in the NBA, and once they traded Anthony Davis away, along with how the Mark Williams trade fell through at the same time, it has left them a little light.
Jaxson Hayes and Alex Len, the only big men left on the roster, weren’t reliable, so much so that Redick didn’t play them altogether in the series. And as it turned out, the Wolves made the most of it. The Lakers were simply outrebounded by 25 in the final two games of the series. A soft center in Rudy Gobert, who almost single-handedly destroyed them with a 27-point, 24-rebound performance in Game 5. All in all, hype aside, the Luka Doncic trade, a no-brainer keeping the future in mind, upended the balance of the roster in the immediate. And on the Mind The Game podcast on May 7, James and Steve Nash sat to all the fans who are wondering how the Lakers limped out of the playoffs at the first hurdle. Here is what James said,
“For me, I have definitely learned over the years that teams win championships. Teams always win championships. Yes, individuals get a lot of accolades and the praise. But a collective group, you know, wins championships. You have your big guys who make big plays at the end of the games, throughout the game. Whatever the case may be. But ultimately, teams win championships.
“And I understand it’s never about me and Luka. It was never about Anthony Edwards and Julius Randle. It was always Minnesota versus the Lakers. And I understand that. And I’m at a point in my career now, where I don’t lose sleep over that like, ‘F—, how did me and Luka lose?’ Well, yeah, there’s eight other guys on the floor.”
Doncic and LeBron have contributed roughly 33-40% of the Lakers’ total points since the debut of the former Mavs man. Bron (500-600) and Luka (450-550) have gotten 950-1150 of the Lakers’ 2,875 points this season. But despite their individual prowess, they couldn’t lead their side beyond the first round, and James believes the onus isn’t only on him and Doncic. Let’s take the Timberwolves as a comparison.
Anthony Edwards was really disappointed in the first half of Game 1 against the Warriors in the semis. But they still managed to trail by just 5 points heading into the second half. This shows how good their whole team is- stepping up when the de facto leader doesn’t. But if Broncic doesn’t show up for a game, there are no exact metrics to define such a situation, but Lakers fans know how much they’d lack. And the King made sure to point this out on his podcast.
One example is the Boston Celtics. They’ve had the most points-per-possession, at 1.21. In terms of the other metrics, the Pacers lead in assists-per-game with 29.7 and assists-per-turnover ratio with 2.4. All of these stats indicate a strong team game. The Lakers, meanwhile, rank 7th in both points-per-possession and assists-per-game, with 1.1 and 21.2 respectively, and around the middle-tier in assists-per-turnover ratio at 1.5.
Moving on, where does this defeat leave James? At 40, the questions over his future loom large, especially after this defeat. During the podcast, he did touch on this subject.
LeBron James opens up on retirement plans after playoff defeat
Though the season ended in disappointment for James, it was still a landmark campaign, as he got to team up with his son, Bronny, on the court. But the clock might be ticking on his future in the league after he completed his 22nd season. So, does that mean retirement is closer than ever for him?
Talking about his health, James said, “Obviously, No. 1 is to get back healthy. I’ll be able to do some small stuff within the next week or two just to try and get the mobility back in the knee (diagnosed with Grade 2 MCL sprain) and things of that nature.” While James didn’t exactly mention if he intends to return next season, it remains a strong possibility.
“And then, I’ll take some vacation time with the family, some of the times that you lose, obviously when you’re in the eight-nine-month season, and see what this next journey looks like. I haven’t had the (retirement) conversation with the family as far as me going forward, but we’ll see what happens,” he added.
It’s hard to imagine James bowing out like this. With Doncic likely available from the start next season, James would be keen to build more chemistry with him and if the Lakers address some of their concerns, we might be looking at a contending side next season.
