Lebron James, Luka Doncic, and Austin Reaves are supposed to be the Los Angeles Lakers’ Big 3 but since AR won’t be able to join them anytime soon, they need another guy to step up. A two-way player heeded the call.
Nick Smith Jr. proved he belong to the league on Sunday after scoring 21 points off the bench in in the win over the Sacramento Kings. The 21-year-old has played just 13 games so far and was even DNPd in loss to the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day.
He splits his time between the LA and its G-League affiliate South Bay Lakers. Redick rarely looked at him during the times Reaves was present but he remained ready and he is happy that his preparations finally paid off.
NICK SMITH JR HASN’T MISSED!!! 7 FOR 7 pic.twitter.com/wr1t0guavy
— Lakers Empire (@LakersEmpire) December 29, 2025
“This is up and down because obviously I’m on a two-way. So one day I might play, then the next two games I might not play. So just take it one day at a time,” Smith told reporters after the game.
“I try to make sure every day is my game day. I try to make sure I prepare my body when my name is called. And tonight was one of those nights.”
Fans are raving about the third year guard’s performance.
nick smith jr legacy game
luka and lebron back to being the best duo in the league
vibes are back pic.twitter.com/534Lsq3jG2— lia ☀️ miserable (@liahurry) December 29, 2025
Gabe Vincent don’t bother suiting up again, we got a brother named Nick Smith pic.twitter.com/NP5VXNsZqc
— ²³𝙻𝚎𝙱𝚛𝚘𝚗𝚌𝚑𝚒𝚝𝚒𝚜🏀☄️🌎💞 (@BronGotGame) December 29, 2025
Nick Smith Jr. earns praise from Lebron James
James and Doncic provided the scoring spark as usual. The former had 24 while the latter put up a game high 34 points.
Smith Jr. served as their third guard and James thought his role is as important as their scoring.
“Nobody’s surprised by his ability to score—he’s been doing that his whole life,” James said.
“With AR out, we need another ball handler to run some sets, and the most important thing is he was super efficient tonight, getting us into our offense even under pressure.”
Doncic echoes LBJ’s thoughts saying the game result would have been different if not for Smith Jr.’s presence.
“Obviously, the scoring is going to help us a lot in bringing the ball up,” Doncic said when asked about the 2023 27th overall pick’s performance.
“As you saw today, he had an amazing game. Without him, it would have been a much closer game, so he helped us a lot today.”
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