The Los Angeles Lakers have now suffered three defeats in a row following a 124-112 loss at the hands of the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center on Monday. Lakers superstars LeBron James and Luka Doncic didn’t get much help from their supporting cast in this one, but there was something peculiar about the former’s play that stood out.
James had 22 points (8-17 FG), four rebounds, three assists, and one steal against the Kings, but was completely passive in the fourth quarter. The 41-year-old was on the court for 8:44 in the quarter and didn’t have a single shot attempt. James only had two points in the period, both of which came from the free throw line, and had one turnover.
It’s not often that you see James turn into this much of a non-factor as a scorer down the stretch, especially when his team still had a chance to win. The Lakers had cut the Kings’ lead to single digits on multiple occasions in the fourth, and you’d have liked to see him be a bit more assertive and demand that he get the ball.
Sure, James’ outside shot wasn’t falling (0-5 from three), but it’s not like the rest of the team was shooting lights out. The supporting cast around the two stars went 17-42 (40.5%) from the field. When they don’t have it going, the big guns have to carry the team. Doncic had 42 points on the night, and the Lakers needed more from James.
As tends to be the case when James gets this passive, questions start popping up about whether he is unhappy about the situation he finds himself in. There have been murmurs, of course, about the 41-year-old not being too pleased about having to play with his Slovenian co-star.
James has indicated he has no problem bending his game around Doncic, but that chatter isn’t going away. There have even been suggestions that he was taking subtle shots at the guard on his Mind the Game podcast recently.
Another angle that has been brought up in recent times is that James has checked out mentally. His comments about his love for golf and how he’d rather be at home with his family than play on Christmas Day led to former NBA player Austin Rivers coming to that conclusion.
James is in the final year of his contract and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer. Is he thinking of walking away? Only he knows.
Should the Lakers and their fans be worried by all of this? Probably not. James hasn’t always looked at his best this season, but he is still playing at a high level. The 21-time All-Star is averaging 22.0 points, 5.5 rebounds, 6.8 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game in 2025-26.
As for the fourth quarter against the Kings, it seems like an aberration if we look at James’ previous outings. He had scored at least 10 points in four straight fourth quarters coming into that game. There isn’t really a need to sound the alarm just yet.
James and the Lakers do, though, have to figure out a way to arrest this slide. They are 4-7 in their last 11 games and have now dropped to 23-14 on the season. All that good work at the start of the campaign is going to be undone if this poor run carries on for longer.
The Lakers take on the Atlanta Hawks next at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday at 10:30 PM ET. It’s unclear if James features against the Hawks, as this is the second night of a back-to-back. Doncic’s status isn’t certain either, so the Lakers might be in trouble.
