Lakers Facing 'New Reality' with Surprise LeBron James Injury

Oct 5, 2025; San Francisco, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Bronny James (9) and forward LeBron James (23), wearing a Los Angeles Dodgers cap, watch the action against the Golden State Warriors in the first quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images | David Gonzales-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Lakers could be facing a "new reality" thanks to a surprise LeBron James ailment.

The 21-time All-NBA superstar has been dealing with a sciatic injury on his right side for several months, and is set to be re-evaluated after the first week or two of the regular season.

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The Athletic's Dan Woike writes that the James injury to start the season has made a harsh reality abundantly clear: the Lakers are Luka Doncic's team now. Woike, for one, advises the Lakers to embrace the change.

"When healthy, Doncic is one of the NBA’s biggest floor-raisers, even if the roster isn’t perfectly built around him," Woike observes. "He’s good enough to handle any stretch of challenges, including a first chunk of the schedule when the Lakers won’t be whole."

"This, of course, is his team to lead long-term, and whether the Lakers were going to explicitly say it or not, it was always going to be on James to figure out the best ways to make it work around Doncic more so than the other way around," Woike notes.

A Perpetual Health Risk

James, the lead's oldest active player for the third year running at age 40, is now a perpetual health risk.

Prior to the start of his Lakers tenure in 2018, the four-time league MVP had been one of the NBA's most durable superstars. His good injury fortunes changed pretty quickly, when he suffered a groin strain during a Christmas Day blowout victory over the Kevin Durant-era Golden State Warriors.

The Lakers were 20-14 at the time and seemed to at least be in the mix for homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs. But LA briskly fell out of the playoff picture entire after James sat out 17 straight games. All told, the 6-foot-9 pro missed 27 contests, and the Lakers missed the playoffs for the sixth consecutive season.

The team's struggles to both integrate their youth movement with James and to survive a long-term James injury convinced LA to get help, flipping significant draft equity and young pieces to the New Orleans Pelicans as part of a blockbuster deal for big man Anthony Davis. The Lakers won their 17th championship immediately the next season, albeit with James still emerging as the club's Finals MVP.

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Between 2020-23, James missed an average of 26.7 games. His regular season health had stabilized in each of the past two seasons, as he appeared in 71 games for LA in 2023-24 and 70 bouts last year. But his health will be a perpetual question.

Now, Doncic has fully supplanted James as the club's first option.

For more news and notes on the Los Angeles Lakers, visit Los Angeles Lakers on SI.