'LeBron Was the Last Man Standing,' Lakers Insider Sounds Off on Injury Woes After NBA Playoff Exit

In the wake of the Los Angeles Lakers' season ending with a playoff sweep at the hands of the Oklahoma City Thunder, their injury woes are getting an even brighter spotlight in assessing what went wrong.

One person close to LeBron James explained to ESPN's Dave McMenamin, "LeBron was the last man standing" for the Lakers.

Another scenario that caused some issues for James was the sciatica injury that kept him out for the first 14 games of the 2025-26 season.

Per McMenamin, Lakers officials believe James' "demeanor" was impacted by the early-season injury:

"Team sources told ESPN that it was clear the injury weighed on James and his demeanor.

"Even so, whatever rancor that James' side might have felt, a source familiar with the Lakers' thinking told ESPN their relationship with James was mostly 'harmonious.' Even James' sometimes dour mood at the start of the season as he rehabbed was understood by the source as 'the evolution' of an athlete acutely facing his basketball mortality for the first time."

It's not a revelatory statement to say James was tasked with carrying a heavier burden in the playoffs than anyone with the Lakers anticipated at the start of April.

3 Offseason Moves for Lakers

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After some awkward moments early in the season trying to make the fit between James, Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves work to its full potential because James and Dončić are both used to handling the ball, the Lakers figured things out in March by having Dončić become their No. 1 option.

James became the third option for the first time in his career, with Reaves also ascending to an even more prominent role. The Lakers went 15-2 in March and looked more formidable than at any point in the season.

Things went south at the start of April, particularly in a 139-96 loss to the Thunder on April 2. Dončić suffered a hamstring strain in the third quarter that wound up keeping him out for the remainder of the regular season and all 10 playoff games.

Reaves suffered an oblique injury in the same game that kept him out for the next nine games before returning for Game 5 in the first round against the Houston Rockets.

McMenamin noted James was the only player in the NBA with at least 300 points, 100 assists and 75 rebounds from April 5, which was the Lakers' first game after Dončić and Reaves were injured, through their final game against the Thunder on Monday.

James also averaged 38.2 minutes per game in the playoffs, an increase of five minutes from his regular season average (33.2). Cade Cunningham, Tyrese Maxey and Rui Hachimura are the only players who have appeared in at least 10 games this postseason who averaged more minutes per contest.

The results may not have been dramatically different for the Lakers if Dončić and Reaves had been healthy for the entire postseason because Oklahoma City has more overall talent on paper, but they would have had a better chance at extending the series if they had been at full strength.

Now, the Lakers and James enter an offseason with a lot of questions about their future together. He is set to become a free agent this summer and could consider retirement, but general manager Rob Pelinka has said the team would love to have him back if he decides to keep playing.