The NBA season has entered its home stretch, and the Los Angeles Lakers are hitting their stride. Much has been said about the Lakers' big three not being able to play together — and they still have a net rating of minus-1.1 for the season at large, to be fair. But with injuries to each of them at different points this year, the sample size is still pretty small, and in the past 11 games, they've posted a net rating of plus-13.2.
That's a whole lot better! Perhaps the biggest reason for that improvement is that Luka Doncic, Austin Reaves, and LeBron James appear to have finally figured out the hierarchy between them, and it's that exact order.
LeBron James talked about the "sacrifice" of being the No. 3 option on a team, which is a role he's obviously never played before, also saying that, "The team is most important," which it does appear he fully believes as he's embracing third fiddle duties.
“If it benefits others, it benefits the team. The team is most important. … So yeah, it is a sacrifice. I know what I'm capable of still doing as an individual, but what's important for this team, I'm able to adapt to … And that's the only thing that matters” - LeBron James pic.twitter.com/2NiasV4Igg
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) March 13, 2026
It has been benefiting the team, too. The Lakers are scorching, and James seems to have ceded No. 2 option responsibilities to Austin Reaves, who is shooting 16 shots per game this month, well up from 12.4 last month. I wrote about that trend, and I appreciate the Lakers for reading that piece and taking it into account, which is the only explanation for the change in game plan.
LeBron James is finally the Lakers' clear third option
Meanwhile, LeBron is shooting just 12.8 times per game this month, and has shot 13 times or fewer in the past five games — four wins, importantly. To think of LeBron taking just a dozen shots every game is still pretty jarring, but he's having by far his most efficient month in March; in other words, his role seems to be better matching his production now. That's not a diss; at 41, any efficiency at any volume is remarkable.
Thid is essentally what fans have been asking for all along. To this point, it's not like any of the Big 3 has played particularly badly when they share the court, it's just been awkward because James and Reaves both seemed to think they were the No. 2 option but didn't want to
Roles aren't binary, of course, and there will be nights LeBron shoots more than Austin Reaves. But with how well the Lakers are playing and how clear the hierarchy has felt every night during this hot streak, I'm hard-pressed to think that JJ Redick isn't telling these guys to keep playing exactly how they've been playing.