The LeBron James-less Los Angeles Lakers took down the New York Knicks 110-97 at Crypto.com Arena on Sunday. That victory meant the Lakers now have an excellent 9-2 record this season when Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves play without James, which has led to an intriguing question being asked.
Are the Lakers actually better without James? Well, the question was put forth to FS1’s Chris Broussard on First Things First on Monday, and he had a interesting take.
“They’re not worse,” Broussard said. “… We know when the three of them were playing together early in the season… they were bad. Lately, they had been playing better together, but it’s still a small sample size. I do feel in a playoff series, they’d have a better chance with LeBron than without him because of his experience and all of that stuff. But the numbers clearly say they’re much better without him.”
The Lakers were pretty terrible earlier in the season when James, Doncic, and Reaves all played together. As Broussard mentioned, though, there had been improvement lately. According to Databallr, the Lakers now have a +1.5 net rating when all three are on the court. That still isn’t great, but considering it was -7.1 at one point in December, the jump is notable.
That said, the Lakers still fare much better when Doncic and Reaves are on the court, but James isn’t. They have an incredible +14.7 net rating when the two backcourt stars have played together without the veteran forward. It is in the offensive rating where there is a big jump, going from 115.3 with James to 124.2 without him. He just isn’t a great fit next to those two.
So, what’s the solution here? There have been calls for James to come off the bench, but Broussard thinks there is another way.
“The Lakers need LeBron to be Chris Bosh or Kevin Love,” Broussard stated. “That’s what they need. When you have a ball-dominant, over-dribbling superstar, who’s also your best scorer, you can only have one other big scorer. When LeBron was that type of player, he had [Dwyane Wade], who’s another big scorer. Chris Bosh had to become a role player. When he had Kyrie in Cleveland, and Kyrie and LeBron can score, Kevin Love has to become a role player.”
Broussard pointed out that this was previously never a problem for the Lakers, as Anthony Davis was James’ only co-star. Now that there are three quality scorers on this team, someone has to change their game, as Chris Bosh and Kevin Love once did during their time with the Miami Heat and Cleveland Cavaliers, respectively. Broussard doesn’t think James will become a role player, though.
“He’s smart enough to know what I could do for this team, but 22 years as a superstar, you can’t be a role player,” Broussard said. “Michael Jordan could not have been a role player… Allen Iverson clearly could not just be a role player. It’s hard to do. Not only because of whether it’s ego or just you’ve been a superstar for so long, you can’t adjust, but also your stature in the league and in the history of basketball.”
It’s even harder for James because he remains a pretty good player today. The 41-year-old isn’t the dominant force he was in his prime, but is still averaging 21.4 points, 5.6 rebounds, 7.0 assists, 1.1 steals, and 0.6 blocks per game in 2025-26, while shooting 50.4% from the field. He isn’t “washed” just yet.
James will become a free agent in the summer, and it looks like parting ways is in the best interests of both parties. The Lakers can move forward with Doncic and Reaves, while he can look for a team where he’d be a better fit.
