Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James. Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports

Are the Lakers truly better without LeBron James?

By Sai Mohan | Last updated 3/27/24

It's a season of firsts. On Oct. 29, Chris Paul came off the bench for the first time after 1,366 starts. On Jan. 3, five teams unprecedentedly scored 140-plus points in the same night. On March 23, the Trail Blazers fielded an all-rookie starting five for the first time in their franchise's history. And of course, Victor Wembanyama has been doing "the first time we've seen that" things routinely for the Spurs.

And now, another first. Can a basketball team function better without LeBron James? This season, the Lakers are 6-4 without James in the lineup. While that's not a huge sample size, a closer look suggests that Austin Reaves and D'Angelo Russell's production sees a nice bump without James in the lineup.

Furthermore, the six wins include road victories in tough places such as Boston, Utah and Milwaukee.

Fun fact: The Lakers have a better win% without LeBron than with LeBron this season. pic.twitter.com/ni3sA03P6E
— StatMuse (@statmuse) March 27, 2024

Are the Lakers truly better without James? Hall of Famer Paul Pierce doesn't think so. But the Celtics legend has doubled down on his earlier comments that James needs to take a lesser role — to ensure the production of Anthony Davis, Russell and Reaves doesn't suffer in his presence.

"Is it a coincidence that these guys play like this without LeBron?" Pierce pondered on FS1's "Undisputed" on Wednesday. "They just play freer. They don't play with any pressure. If you put LeBron in this lineup, they should be a contender. But the reality of it is they're not gonna play like this when LeBron is out there. The ball distribution doesn't move like this."

To Pierce's point, the trio of Davis, Reaves and Russell achieved a feat not seen in 53 years Tuesday night, combining for 92 points, 44 rebounds and 24 assists.

.@PaulPierce34 on the Lakers 128-124 win over the Bucks without LeBron:

“Anthony Davis looked like the best player on the planet.” pic.twitter.com/1F005S5311
— UNDISPUTED (@undisputed) March 27, 2024

Can a basketball team truly be better without James?

The answer to that question will forever be 'no.' It's impossible for James' presence on any team — even as an ancillary piece — to worsen the chances of victory.

However, James taking on a lesser role and allowing his co-stars to thrive isn't a bad take by any means.

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