Lakers are officially in full-blown crisis mode

December 26, 2025 at 8:02 am

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

The Lakers are officially in full-blown crisis mode.

Whatever early-season good vibes existed are gone after a third straight loss, all of them convincing blowouts. Against the Rockets, this was another uncompetitive and frankly unserious performance. Down by 23 midway through the third quarter, the Lakers once again defaulted to what is becoming an unpleasant habit lately, rolling over in a manner far removed from the championship habits preached throughout training camp. What remained was a disconnected group showing no spirit, no fight, and no cohesion, getting demolished on the offensive glass by a bigger and hungrier Houston team on the national stage.

If the great start and still very respectable 19–10 record have been masking some of the issues evident to anyone watching closely beneath the iceberg, the recent stretch against two contending teams, the Spurs and the Rockets, on the biggest stages has made them impossible to ignore. In those games, this current Lakers team looked a couple of levels below in both physicality and focus compared to what we saw from the Spurs, Thunder, or Rockets.

After the loss against the Suns, I wrote about a system breakdown. Two days later, it seems the time has come for a system reset.

digginbasketball is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today’s notes:

A breaking point?

The starting five is not the only problem, but the most obvious one

Redick calling for a bigger reset?

Rest should start with Luka

1-A breaking point?

JJ Redick has been one of the more honest and straightforward coaches when it comes to postgame media sessions, but even by his standards, this one felt different. It felt like a breaking point.

@ArashMarkazi
JJ Redick: “”It’a matter of making the choice and far too often we don’t have guys who want to make that choice. And it’s pretty consistent who those guys are. Saturday’s practice is going to be uncomfortable. I’m not doing another 53 games like this.”

It is impossible to hear that quote and not recognize a line being crossed. Redick was no longer talking about schemes or execution, but about choice, accountability, and going as far as questioning whether some players care enough to be professionals. When a coach goes that far publicly, it signals that boundaries have been crossed and that significant changes are coming.

From here, the Lakers either change and fight through adversity, or collapse.

2-The starting five is not the only problem, but the most obvious one

The first change should be the most obvious one. Last night was one of many exhibits, and the most high-profile so far, of the Lakers’ starting five as currently constructed having no chance of playing competitive basketball against elite units.

The lineup data for the starting five ranks among the worst in the NBA, and larger sample sizes involving combinations of Ayton, Hachimura, and Dončić, Ayton, Hachimura, and James, or even just Ayton and Hachimura, all tell the same story. It is one I have already written about in both my 10-game and 20-game checks.

This starting group opens every game and every half at such a deficit in energy, hustle, athleticism, and speed that against the best teams it cannot be overcome by later injections of effort, usually coming from Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, and Jarred Vanderbilt off the bench. Last night, Ayton and Hachimura delivered one of the least impactful combined 64-minute stretches I have seen from a starting role-player pairing in quite some time. Each finished with just two rebounds on a night when protecting the glass was the top priority.

Swapping one of them out of the starting five, most likely Hachimura, for a higher-motor player will not solve the bigger structural issues around the Dončić, Reaves, and James baseline. But if nothing else, it is the message Redick needs to send.

3-Redick calling for a bigger reset?

Changing the starting five may amount to reshuffling the same cards and would not solve the bigger underlying issues. Listening to Redick over the last few postgame sessions, with how open and direct he has been in his criticism of the players, gives the impression that he recognizes that as well and is calling for a bigger reset.

Can that reset come internally (see more in my last point)? Or will the front office rethink its conservative and patient approach, originally aimed at a larger overhaul next summer, after seeing how uncompetitive this roster has looked against the best teams?

We will see in the coming days as we get closer to the trade deadline, but Redick ending the presser with “we’ve given everybody a chance” felt like a telling final note.

Until then, the first move in crisis management should be to get back to the basics and to the connectivity this group showed early in the season, despite its limitations. Lakers had it last season and earlier this season, but as Redick noted, trying to trick the system can cause the culture to snap quickly.

4-Rest should start with Luka

This loss was even more frustrating for the Lakers as two of their stars, a duo that dominated together earlier in the season, were dealing with lower leg issues that got worse as the game progressed.

Austin Reaves stayed in the locker room and did not return for the second half after aggravating his calf injury from last week. He will undergo an MRI later today.

Dončić, who returned after missing the previous game with a calf contusion, was visibly limping by the end of the game, both during timeout huddles and as he walked to the scorer’s table for his final substitution in the fourth quarter. But even at the start of the game, things did not look better for Dončić. He opened the night poorly, committing four turnovers in first five minutes, and was not the tone-setting, dominant offensive force the Lakers in their current state need him to be. Postgame, the Slovenian superstar again took responsibility and acknowledged the need for change.

Luka Doncic:

“I don’t know what has to change, but something definitely has to change.”
Dave McMenamin
@mcten
Luka Doncic: “Everybody has got to give better effort, starting with me”
8:25 PM · Dec 25, 2025 · 51.1K Views

But listening to Redick’s postgame rant, and this is strictly an observation from afar, it was hard to escape the feeling that some of that frustration was also directed at his superstars. James was involved in several defensive and rebounding breakdowns and had one of those ‘is he fully engaged’ games. But James turns 41 in a few days and is clearly not this team’s long-term future. Dončić is.

And that places a different level of responsibility on him. After a high-profile body remake in the summer and an impressive start to the season, he has unfortunately arrived at the exact same spot he was a year ago at this time. Banged up and not at the physical level required to compete with the best. If he wants to be the building block of this franchise, to remain in the MVP conversation, and ultimately to be the best player on a title team, that has to change. He needs a reset, not a remake that the summer is starting to resemble.

Watching him grind through games lately has been difficult, and fair or not, this roster, along with his style of play on both ends and everything that cascades from it, cannot function without its superstar being at the top of his game.

Comments

LakerTom says

December 26, 2025 at 8:02 am

FROM ABOVE ARTICLE:

The Lakers are officially in full-blown crisis mode.

Whatever early-season good vibes existed are gone after a third straight loss, all of them convincing blowouts. Against the Rockets, this was another uncompetitive and frankly unserious performance. Down by 23 midway through the third quarter, the Lakers once again defaulted to what is becoming an unpleasant habit lately, rolling over in a manner far removed from the championship habits preached throughout training camp. What remained was a disconnected group showing no spirit, no fight, and no cohesion, getting demolished on the offensive glass by a bigger and hungrier Houston team on the national stage.

If the great start and still very respectable 19–10 record have been masking some of the issues evident to anyone watching closely beneath the iceberg, the recent stretch against two contending teams, the Spurs and the Rockets, on the biggest stages has made them impossible to ignore. In those games, this current Lakers team looked a couple of levels below in both physicality and focus compared to what we saw from the Spurs, Thunder, or Rockets.

After the loss against the Suns, I wrote about a system breakdown. Two days later, it seems the time has come for a system reset.

digginbasketball is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Today’s notes:

A breaking point?

The starting five is not the only problem, but the most obvious one

Redick calling for a bigger reset?

Rest should start with Luka

1-A breaking point?

JJ Redick has been one of the more honest and straightforward coaches when it comes to postgame media sessions, but even by his standards, this one felt different. It felt like a breaking point.

@ArashMarkazi
JJ Redick: “”It’a matter of making the choice and far too often we don’t have guys who want to make that choice. And it’s pretty consistent who those guys are. Saturday’s practice is going to be uncomfortable. I’m not doing another 53 games like this.”

It is impossible to hear that quote and not recognize a line being crossed. Redick was no longer talking about schemes or execution, but about choice, accountability, and going as far as questioning whether some players care enough to be professionals. When a coach goes that far publicly, it signals that boundaries have been crossed and that significant changes are coming.

From here, the Lakers either change and fight through adversity, or collapse.

2-The starting five is not the only problem, but the most obvious one

The first change should be the most obvious one. Last night was one of many exhibits, and the most high-profile so far, of the Lakers’ starting five as currently constructed having no chance of playing competitive basketball against elite units.

The lineup data for the starting five ranks among the worst in the NBA, and larger sample sizes involving combinations of Ayton, Hachimura, and Dončić, Ayton, Hachimura, and James, or even just Ayton and Hachimura, all tell the same story. It is one I have already written about in both my 10-game and 20-game checks.

This starting group opens every game and every half at such a deficit in energy, hustle, athleticism, and speed that against the best teams it cannot be overcome by later injections of effort, usually coming from Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia, and Jarred Vanderbilt off the bench. Last night, Ayton and Hachimura delivered one of the least impactful combined 64-minute stretches I have seen from a starting role-player pairing in quite some time. Each finished with just two rebounds on a night when protecting the glass was the top priority.

Swapping one of them out of the starting five, most likely Hachimura, for a higher-motor player will not solve the bigger structural issues around the Dončić, Reaves, and James baseline. But if nothing else, it is the message Redick needs to send.

3-Redick calling for a bigger reset?

Changing the starting five may amount to reshuffling the same cards and would not solve the bigger underlying issues. Listening to Redick over the last few postgame sessions, with how open and direct he has been in his criticism of the players, gives the impression that he recognizes that as well and is calling for a bigger reset.

Can that reset come internally (see more in my last point)? Or will the front office rethink its conservative and patient approach, originally aimed at a larger overhaul next summer, after seeing how uncompetitive this roster has looked against the best teams?

We will see in the coming days as we get closer to the trade deadline, but Redick ending the presser with “we’ve given everybody a chance” felt like a telling final note.

Until then, the first move in crisis management should be to get back to the basics and to the connectivity this group showed early in the season, despite its limitations. Lakers had it last season and earlier this season, but as Redick noted, trying to trick the system can cause the culture to snap quickly.

4-Rest should start with Luka

This loss was even more frustrating for the Lakers as two of their stars, a duo that dominated together earlier in the season, were dealing with lower leg issues that got worse as the game progressed.

Austin Reaves stayed in the locker room and did not return for the second half after aggravating his calf injury from last week. He will undergo an MRI later today.

Dončić, who returned after missing the previous game with a calf contusion, was visibly limping by the end of the game, both during timeout huddles and as he walked to the scorer’s table for his final substitution in the fourth quarter. But even at the start of the game, things did not look better for Dončić. He opened the night poorly, committing four turnovers in first five minutes, and was not the tone-setting, dominant offensive force the Lakers in their current state need him to be. Postgame, the Slovenian superstar again took responsibility and acknowledged the need for change.

Luka Doncic:

“I don’t know what has to change, but something definitely has to change.”
Dave McMenamin
@mcten
Luka Doncic: “Everybody has got to give better effort, starting with me”
8:25 PM · Dec 25, 2025 · 51.1K Views

But listening to Redick’s postgame rant, and this is strictly an observation from afar, it was hard to escape the feeling that some of that frustration was also directed at his superstars. James was involved in several defensive and rebounding breakdowns and had one of those ‘is he fully engaged’ games. But James turns 41 in a few days and is clearly not this team’s long-term future. Dončić is.

And that places a different level of responsibility on him. After a high-profile body remake in the summer and an impressive start to the season, he has unfortunately arrived at the exact same spot he was a year ago at this time. Banged up and not at the physical level required to compete with the best. If he wants to be the building block of this franchise, to remain in the MVP conversation, and ultimately to be the best player on a title team, that has to change. He needs a reset, not a remake that the summer is starting to resemble.

Watching him grind through games lately has been difficult, and fair or not, this roster, along with his style of play on both ends and everything that cascades from it, cannot function without its superstar being at the top of his game.

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