Los Angeles Lakers star forward LeBron James made his 2025-26 debut Tuesday after missing the first 14 games due to sciatica, officially marking his record-setting 23rd NBA season. The Lakers scored a season-high in points and overcame an 11-point Utah Jazz first-half lead to win 140-126.
But the Lakers were outscored by 14 points in James’ first two shifts in the first quarter, though they outscored the Jazz by 15 points in James’ minutes from the second quarter on. Overall, the Lakers outscored the Jazz by one point in James’ nearly 30 minutes of action, while the Lakers outscored the Jazz by 13 points with James on the bench.
If that overall discrepancy shocks you, it shouldn’t.
Despite being an All-NBA Second Team selection last season, the Lakers were outscored by 54 points in James’ 2,444 minutes last regular season. According to NBA Advanced Stats, the Lakers also outscored opponents by 154 points in the 1,502 minutes that James was off the floor last season, the first time that James’ team was outscored while he was on the floor and outscored opponents in the minutes that James was off the floor over an entire season. Of course, last season was also James’ first playing with Luka Dončić, one of the game’s most talented scorers who was acquired in a shocking February trade with the Dallas Mavericks.
Dončić this season is averaging a league-high 34.6 points per game. In many ways, James, who both missed the season opener and didn’t play in any preseason games for the first time in his career, is hopping onto a moving train, with the Lakers 11-4 and in fourth place in the Western Conference.
All of that begs the question: Was 2024-25 a season-long blip, or is this the new normal for James?
James’ All-NBA selection was only the third time in the play-by-play era (since the 1996-97 NBA season) that a player was selected to an All-NBA team despite that player’s team being outscored with that player on the floor in the regular season while also outscoring opponents with that player off the floor. The previous two instances were Seattle SuperSonics point guard Gary Payton in 2001 and Milwaukee Bucks shooting guard Michael Redd in 2004. Payton’s SuperSonics missed the playoffs with a 44-38 record, while Redd’s Bucks were a 41-41 Eastern Conference sixth seed that lost a first-round series to the eventual champion Detroit Pistons. Last season, the Lakers were the No. 3 seed in the crowded West before being upset by the sixth-seeded Timberwolves. In that series, Minnesota outscored the Lakers in James’ 204 minutes but was outscored by six points in the 36 minutes James was off the floor.
Before 2024-25, the only other times James has been on teams that were outscored with him on the floor were the 2004 Cleveland Cavaliers (James’ rookie season) and the 2021-22 Lakers. But both the 2004 Cavaliers and the 2022 Lakers were outscored with James off the floor as well. Those teams were two of the four teams that failed to make the playoffs with James on the team. In that respect, last year’s Lakers stood out:
It should be noted that the trends for James held up on both sides of Dončić’s debut last season. Before Dončić’s first game with the Lakers on Feb. 10 (also against the Jazz), the Lakers were outscored by 54 points in James’ minutes, while outscoring opponents by 88 points with James off the floor. Once Dončić suited up for the Lakers for the first time, Los Angeles was even in James’ minutes, while outscoring opponents by 66 points with James off the floor from Feb. 10 through the rest of the regular season.
When James was on the floor for the Lakers last season, the Lakers shot 48.5 percent from the field, compared to only 46.9 percent when he was off the floor. The Lakers also had a lower turnover rate when James was on the floor. That makes sense given that James was still a very effective individual player last season, scoring 24.4 points per game on 51.3 percent shooting from the field. James averaged 8.2 assists per game, exceeding his career average of 7.4 for the second year in a row.
What plummeted offensively for the Lakers were the offensive rebounds and the free-throw rate. The 4.7 free-throw attempts per game were a career low for James, though that’s still a star-worthy volume of free throws. And while the Lakers grabbed half of all rebounds with James off the floor, that number dropped slightly to 49.1 percent with James on the floor. That’s the difference between an average rebounding team and a bad one.
Defensively, the Lakers fouled less often with James on the floor, but they also forced fewer turnovers. Opponents also shot 47.1 percent from the field and 37 percent from 3 with James on the floor last season, compared to 45.1 percent from the field and 33.1 percent from 3 with James off the floor.
It is also worth noting that the trio of James, Dončić and Austin Reaves outscored foes by just two points in the 423 minutes they shared on the floor last season. While the James/Dončić/Reaves trio allowed the Lakers to score 117.8 points per 100 possessions, the Lakers also allowed 117.7 points per 100 possessions with those three on the floor together. For perspective, that 117.7 points per 100 possessions allowed was the same defensive efficiency as the 27th-ranked Phoenix Suns defense last season. In the playoffs against the Timberwolves, the Lakers only scored 109.4 points per 100 possessions but still allowed 117.2 points per 100 possessions in the 140 minutes that James, Dončić and Reaves shared the floor.
With all that said, there are clear areas in which James can give the Lakers a boost.
Per Second Spectrum, the Lakers average the fewest passes made per game in the NBA (271.2). Despite this, the Lakers entered Tuesday’s game with the NBA’s worst turnover percentage. James’ ability to run, cut and roll into space or to the basket should help facilitate more ball movement, in addition to James’ own passing ability (he has 12 assists and one turnover Tuesday). James scored 11 points on just seven shots Tuesday, the fewest shots he has had in a game since he was ejected in a November 2021 loss at Detroit and the fewest he has ever had in any game that he played at least 25 minutes.
Where James makes a notable difference is on the fast break. Last year, the Lakers outscored opponents 866-847 on the fast break with James on the floor; with James off the floor, the Lakers were outscored 535-369 on fast breaks.
The Lakers outscored the Jazz 15-11 on the fast break Tuesday, and James’ trademark ability to streak down the floor as well as make the right pass was on display in a third quarter that saw the Lakers hit the Jazz with an 18-point turnaround, with James receiving a Dončić outlet and setting up a Reaves finish. Of James’ 12 assists Tuesday night, none were to Dončić (game-high 37 points), and this was the only one to Reaves:
Second-year Lakers coach JJ Redick has referred to new Laker Marcus Smart as a “quarterback” on defense due to his awareness and ability to blow up plays off the ball. Redick said last weekend that, “we’ll have two quarterbacks out there when LeBron’s back.” James’ return sent Smart to the bench, retaining a lineup of James, Dončić, Reaves, forward Rui Hachimura and center Deandre Ayton. The Lakers entered Tuesday’s game ranked 20th in pace, ranking 27th in the NBA in fast-break points per game (12.6) while giving up 14.1 fast-break points per game — James will help that as well.
Fitting James back in is a good problem for Redick and the Lakers, who have four days off before facing Utah again Sunday, to have. James is a great player to have on a team, and his presence reduces the workload of his star teammates while making the game easier for role players.
As James says, he can play with anybody. Time will tell if James can make the Lakers a better team, specifically while he is on the floor as well, something that was not always the case a season ago.