The 2025–26 NBA regular season is officially one-fifth of the way through, and oh boy, has there been plenty to discuss. Nearly three dozen players have been sidelined with lower-body injuries. Cooper Flagg somehow isn’t the leading candidate for Rookie of the Year. And did I forget to mention that the Toronto Raptors are the second seed in the Eastern Conference?
In a year that feels like an episode of Black Mirror, it’s never too early—or too late—for scorching hot takes to float through the basketball media landscape. In ESPN’s first-month review of all 30 teams, insider Tim Bontemps put a significant label on the Los Angeles Lakers, suggesting they’re good… but how good, exactly?
After highlighting the individual successes of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, Bontemps didn’t hold back on pointing out areas where the Lakers have struggled.
“Opponents are having a field day at the rim, with the Lakers giving up 69% shooting inside of 5 feet (fourth worst in the NBA). While they have an 11–4 record, they have middling overall efficiency numbers (11th in offense, 17th in defense, 14th in net rating).”
Bontemps also echoed what many NBA fans wonder when watching Los Angeles: Are the Lakers truly in the same tier as the Oklahoma City Thunder or Denver Nuggets?
Let’s just say the statistics aren’t exactly supporting that claim, and even a simple eye test shows the gap. Still, it’s not entirely fair to judge the Lakers based solely on the first month of the season, considering the injuries they’ve endured. Doncic has missed four games, Reaves has missed three, Gabe Vincent has missed more than 10, and the team only recently got LeBron James back in the lineup — at 40 years old.
But there’s something about Oklahoma City that screams dominance. The Denver Nuggets boast one of the most gifted basketball players the league has ever seen in Nikola Jokic. The Houston Rockets have a depth chart most teams would dream of, all while ranking second in the league in scoring.
The Lakers are good — don’t get it twisted. But they lack a kill factor that other elite teams have at their disposal. Maybe it's simply due to a small sample size, but it’s clear Los Angeles will need to prove much more throughout the season if they want to rise into a higher tier.
As of now, it’s shaping up to be a make-or-break season for the Lakers.
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