The Lakers tipped off their 2025-26 season without LeBron James on the court for the first time, but it wasn’t just his absence that drew attention, it was his demeanor.
During Tuesday’s loss to the Golden State Warriors, cameras caught James on the bench looking visibly disengaged.
When asked about the situation, Lakers insider Jovan Buha didn’t mince words.
“Yeah, I mean I don’t wanna play armchair psychologist here, so I’m — I wanna refrain from too much speculation,” he said on his YouTube Channel. “But the vibes with that situation have not been the best, I’ll say. So, again, I don’t really wanna go too much down that road, but yeah, I mean, I thought there were times just looking at the huddle or looking at the bench that he wasn’t as engaged as he typically is when he’s out.
“You just never know what some — someone’s having a bad day or something’s going — whatever. You don’t wanna project onto people what you think they are feeling or acting like. But just in the observations I made of the body language, was not great, and I do think it was a bit different than what it has been in the past in this same situation of him being out.”
The Lakers fell 119-109 to Golden State, despite a massive performance from Luka Doncic, who posted 43 points, 12 rebounds, and nine assists.
Head coach JJ Redick admitted the team felt the void left by their injured star.
“It’s hard to forget about LeBron,” Redick said postgame. “The reality is when you’re focused on the group that you have, you gotta make that group work. I’ll be honest with you, I did have one moment in that first half when we had a few possessions we couldn’t score against the zone it’d be great to have LeBron just to throw it to in the high post.”
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