The Los Angeles Lakers recently got some tough injury news when it was revealed that LeBron James would miss 3-4 weeks to open up the season, as reported by ESPN NBA insider Shams Charania. The news came just days after James conned the sports world into thinking he was announcing his retirement, only to instead promote Hennessy.
The Lakers' preseason slate will continue this weekend with their second straight game against the Golden State Warriors, and recently, head coach JJ Redick gave an update on his starting backcourt heading into that matchup.
“Luka Doncic is TBD for tomorrow’s game vs. GSW, per JJ Redick. Redick said Doncic will play in two preseason games. Doncic was a full participant in today’s practice,” reported Lakers insider Jovan Buha on X, formerly Twitter.
“Austin Reaves will play tomorrow vs. Golden State, per JJ Redick,” he added.
Doncic and Reaves would certainly like to get as many reps as they can heading into this season in order to work out how they will play off one another this year, particularly on the defensive end of the floor, where they figure to be arguably the worst backcourt in the NBA.
Turbulent times for the Lakers
With LeBron James seeming to treat the upcoming 2025-26 season more as a joke than a chance to compete for a championship and Luka Doncic still not practicing with the team for some reason, the Lakers are encountering quite a bit of turbulence as they prepare for the upcoming 2025-26 campaign.
Last year, the Lakers secured the third seed in the Western Conference before getting gentleman's swept by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. This year, Los Angeles will hope to see some special things in their first full season of the Doncic era. Doncic played well for the most part last year on the Lakers, but concerns about his conditioning and defense proved to be more than jusitfied in the team's playoff collapse.
In any case, the Lakers are set to kick off their 2025-26 regular season at home against the Warriors on October 21.
