High Horse Sports

The Thesis

When LeBron James informed the Lakers on June 30 that he was taking his 22 All-Star appearances and his AARP discount card to Philadelphia, the national media wrote the eulogy: the Lakers are finished, Luka Doncic will demand a trade by Christmas, enjoy the lottery, Los Angeles.

Ten days into the 2026-27 season, the Lakers are 4-2, Luka is leading the league in scoring at 36.0 points per game, and the eulogy writers are quietly deleting their drafts. This is not a rebuild. This is a hostile takeover that started the moment the league’s oldest roster got sent to various retirement destinations and a real basketball team got built around the best offensive engine of his generation.

Exhibit A: Luka Doncic Is Committing Armed Robbery

The man just won a scoring title at 33.5 points a game last season — while sharing the floor with LeBron — and apparently decided that was a warmup. Through the Lakers’ first four games he’s averaging 36.0 points, 8.3 assists, and 6.8 rebounds on 48.4% shooting.

Need receipts? Fine. Receipts:

• 52 points, 8 rebounds, 10 assists in a comeback win at Utah — the first 50-point game in the entire league this season, on 17-of-30 shooting with eight threes.
• 41 points and nine assists the very next night against Portland, meaning he dropped 93 points in back-to-back games.
• His 10th 50-point game in under two seasons as a Laker. Tenth).
• 37 points, seven rebounds and five assists in Friday night’s NBA Cup showdown in San Francisco, where a road loss to a desperate Warriors team still required him to be the best player on the floor.

This is a 27-year-old who just entered his physical prime on a roster finally built for him. The MVP race is a formality; someone has to finish second.

Exhibit B: The Backcourt Is Outscoring Entire Small Towns

Luka (36.0) and Austin Reaves (24.4) are combining for 60.4 points per game — the highest-scoring duo of teammates in the NBA. They’re the only pair of teammates in the league both averaging 24-plus points and five-plus assists. The Lakers’ offensive rating entered the week third in the NBA, behind only Portland and Houston.

And about Reaves — the guy the Lakers re-signed for four years and about $180 million. Last season he averaged 23.3 points, and the Lakers went 36-15 (.706) with him in the lineup versus 17-14 without him. When LeBron sat last season, Reaves averaged 28.4 points and 7.8 assists. He’s the best undrafted player of his era and he plays like he’s personally offended by every mock draft that ever skipped him. Newark, Arkansas, population 1,000-ish, is producing All-Stars. The rest of the league should be embarrassed.

Exhibit C: They Actually Fixed the Roster

The old Lakers were the NBA’s fifth-oldest team — a retirement community with good branding. The new Lakers have exactly one player over 30. Rob Pelinka and JJ Redick ran the offseason like men with a checklist:

• Walker Kessler, 7’2″, 25 years old, acquired in a sign-and-trade and signed for four years — the franchise center this team has begged for since the Shaq era ended. He introduced himself with a 22-point, six-block game against the Clippers.
• Reaves locked in for four years at the start of his prime.
• Quentin Grimes, Collin Sexton, Sandro Mamukelashvili, Matisse Thybulle, Ziaire Williams — real NBA wings and guards in their twenties instead of veterans on farewell tours.

And when Luka sat out the second Clippers game with back tightness, the Lakers won anyway, 103-87. The 2024-25 Lakers lose that game by 20. Depth is a beautiful thing.

The One Flaw (And Why It’s Shrinking)

Yes, the defense has wobbles — the 136-129 loss to Portland proved a Luka explosion can still be outscored, with Damian Lillard (yes, that Damian Lillard, in Portland, somehow) hitting the dagger. And Friday in San Francisco went the same direction: Luka’s 37 kept them in it, but the Lakers couldn’t survive on offense alone, dropping a 4-1 start to 4-2. The Lakers’ offense is so far ahead of their defense it’s not close.

But here’s the thing: defense is scheme, effort, and rim protection. They added one of the best rim protectors alive in Kessler, they’re now young and athletic enough to switch, and they have a coach in Redick who spent all summer installing a system instead of managing geriatric egos. Offense like this travels all season. Defense can be coached into existence. Ask me in March.

The Rest of the League Is On Fire, By the Way

Quick tour of the chaos the Lakers are navigating: Houston and Memphis are both 5-0, OKC is 4-1 but just lost Chet Holmgren for 8-10 weeks, the defending-champion Knicks opened 0-3 and are currently 2-3 in a conference led by… the Detroit Pistons. The Spurs look mortal. Injuries are already picking off Western Conference stars. The door isn’t just cracked open for the Lakers — it’s off the hinges, and Luka is walking through it carrying the frame.

The Verdict

The Lakers went from LeBron’s farewell tour to a 27-year-old MVP candidate, a 28-year-old borderline All-NBA guard, a 25-year-old franchise center, and a rotation that doesn’t require a defibrillator. They’re 4-2 with the league’s No. 3 offense and their two best players are just warming up — and both losses were road games decided late with Luka hanging 40-plus on the board.

Everyone who buried this team in June was grading the eulogy instead of reading the roster. The High Horse position: the Lakers are a top-three seed in the West, Luka is your MVP, and the only thing getting retired in Los Angeles this season is the “wait for the Lakers to collapse” takes.

Saddle up.