The Los Angeles Lakers' embarrassing 139-96 blowout to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Thursday night really felt like rock bottom in a lot of ways. Whatever could go wrong did go wrong in several different aspects.
From the jump, the Lakers got absolutely battered by the Thunder. Luka Doncic tweaked a hamstring that would eventually force him to exit the game for good, and await MRIs on Friday. There was really no silver lining from the performance itself. However, LeBron James found one that goes beyond this individual matchup.
"Nothing has changed. ... Nothing is rattled. It's one game. It's part of the NBA season. It's defending champions.
We get it. We understand."
James said what one would expect from the oldest player on the team (and in the NBA). The 41-year-old has been through just about any and every scenario that one could imagine in the league. That veteran leadership and steadying hand will be huge for the Lakers moving forward.
LeBron James' leadership will be worth its weight in gold for the Lakers
There is still no concrete answer on just how severe the Doncic injury will be for the Lakers down the stretch. However, there could be a real possibility of the Lakers superstar missing the rest of the regular season, with only five games left after this beatdown.
Still a lot of details to sort through re: Doncic’s hamstring injury but there’s a lot on the line. This season the average time lost for nondescript hamstring strains in the NBA has been ~22 days (~9 games). That’s higher than the historical averages of 12.1 days (~5 games).
— Jeff Stotts (@InStreetClothes) April 3, 2026
If that does end up becoming the case, a lot of eyes and pressure will be on the duo of James and Austin Reaves to fill Doncic's MVP-sized shoes. There is actually even more reason to believe more of that will actually fall on LeBron to turn back the clock.
Reaves dealt with his own injury problems in the Thunder game, exiting with an ailment in his lower back before ultimately returning to the matchup. If the Lakers want to exercise some form of caution with him following his superstar teammate's injury, no one could blame them.
That would leave the Lakers with five games that require everything James can still offer at his age.
LeBron is already saying all the right things. That should really come as no surprise. When the Thunder were beating the brakes off the Lakers, James was noticeably more poised than some of his teammates. That demeanor will need to carry over to this final stretch.
The Lakers will get a little bit of extra time off after the regular season is over to rest up since they secured a playoff spot earlier this week. If Doncic is forced to miss an extended stretch, hopefully for the Lakers and their fans, that can be the difference in him being back (and fully healthy) in time for the first-round. Until then, James will need to play his part as the guiding hand for Los Angeles.