The Los Angeles Lakers are not necessarily having a bad season, but in the stacked Western Conference, they are seemingly headed towards the NBA Play-In Tournament, and it would be a bit of a surprise if they made a run in the playoffs, given the strength of the other teams. Stephen A. Smith made a pretty bold declaration about the Lakers and LeBron James as we approach the playoffs.

“The bottom line is this. In my opinion, this is the last dance with LeBron James playing the way that he is playing,” Stephen A. Smith said on ESPN. “I don't expect him to be better next year than he is this year.”

The Lakers are at 42-33 as things currently stand, and are pretty firmly in the the NBA Play-In Tournament, barring a long streak of winning or losing from them down the stretch in the last seven games of the season.

Responding to Smith, Shannon Sharpe asked if he expects James to be worse next season.

“I'm not saying that, but I said I don't expect him to be better,” Smith said on ESPN. “I would not disrespect him like that. He's too great for me to assume that. because we've seen him defy father time and the odds for so long. But I don't expect him to be better, I damn sure don't expect the rest of his crew to be better, and so I'm looking at the Los Angels Lakers and I'm like yo, the time is now because guess what, Oklahoma City ain't going to get worse, Minnesota ain't gonna get worse, Denver ain't gonna get worse, Dallas ain't gonna get worse.”

The Lakers finish the season with seven games against the Toronto Raptors, Washington Wizards, Cleveland Cavaliers, Minnesota Timberwolves, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies and New Orleans Pelicans. After those games, then we will know the road that the Lakers will have to take. Last year, the Lakers had to go through the play-in tournament, but they were in the 7-seed game. This time, they might need to win two games to get into the playoffs. It will likely be tougher to make a deep run.

Can the Lakers improve in the 2024-2025 season?

The Lakers will likely be running it back with a similar team next year, except James and Anthony Davis will be a year older. James will be in his age 40 season, while Anthony Davis will be 32. James will likely still play at a very high level, but will require load management at 40 years old, while Davis  is a year older after being injury prone in the last few years already.

Los Angeles does not have many draft assets to use to improve the roster in other areas as well, whether that be drafting a young player or using those in trades.

It will be interesting to see how the Lakers handle this upcoming playoff run and offseason.