On Wednesday, the Los Angeles Lakers kicked off their 2025-26 NBA season with a relatively uncompetitive loss to the Golden State Warriors at home. It was a masterpiece performance, at least on offense, for Luka Doncic, who poured in 43 points in his first season opener for the Lakers, but he wasn't able to get much help from his Los Angeles teammates en route to the loss.
One of the big storylines coming into this season for the Lakers was Doncic's apparent weight loss, and recently, NBA insider Rachel Nichols stopped by FS1's the Herd w/Colin Cowherd to break down her thoughts.
“He said that with the weight loss, he definitely found it easier to move around. He got back on defense more easily, you saw that last night, and he talked about attacking the paint more as well. He had more paint points last night than he did in any game last season and you could see that,” said Nichols.
“That's great for the Lakers, because Skinny Luka is someone they're going to need to depend on, especially when LeBron is out. LeBron being out is definitely a problem,” she added. “He's not going to solve all of their problems roster-wise, but as LeBron has aged, we've seen the basketball skills or the athleticism diminish somewhat, but the fact that he is so smart on the court, that is such a value for this team, and that's just not there right now.”
A strangely constructed Lakers team
The Lakers do have Luka Doncic, which counts for a lot, but they don't have much in the way of three and D role players or serviceable frontcourt players in their rotation, which figures to severely limit how good they can be this year.
Both of those issues were on full display in the game against the Warriors, as Los Angeles was unable to wall off the paint against Golden State, and also struggled mightily from behind the three-point line.
In any case, the Lakers will next take the floor on Friday evening when they host the Minnesota Timberwolves.
