The Los Angeles Lakers have surprised fans with their performance early in the 2025-26 NBA season. With a 17-6 record, the team is tied in second place with the Denver Nuggets. The strong play from Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves has carried the team to an excellent start. On top of that, LeBron James has started to find his rhythm on the floor.
LA has its eyes on contending for the championship. With how they’ve played to start the campaign, there’s a good chance they’ll finish the season on a high note. That is, if the star players remain healthy and are consistent in their play. Despite this, a few people doubt the team.
Rich Paul, James’ longtime agent, doesn’t think LA is ready to contend for the title. Paul talked about his biggest client’s team with sports analyst Max Kellerman on his show “Game Over.”
“I personally don’t think the Lakers are good enough to be contenders right now. Not right now,” Paul said. “I don’t think they have enough to get to the Western Conference Finals.”
Former NBA star DeMarcus Cousins was surprised that Paul doesn’t believe in LA. On Tuesday’s episode of FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back,” Cousins said what the Klutch Sports CEO said was “weird.”
“It’s weird to hear Rich Paul say that with his biggest client being LeBron James,” Cousins said. “To me, there’s more to it, this could be strategy down the line.”
It’s weird to hear Rich Paul admit LeBron’s Lakers aren’t contenders… Boogie thinks the comment has more to it 👀🔮
It’s not controversial to say something has to be done for anyone in the West (other than OKC) to become a contender… pic.twitter.com/bisB1KJgUs
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) December 9, 2025
Cousins believes there are better teams than LA in the West and said that Paul’s take has some truth to it. But he doesn’t understand why he said that, given that James is his biggest client.
Rich Paul said that LeBron James will end the season with the Lakers
There are many questions about LeBron James’ current run in LA. Is this his final season? Will he play his 24th season in the NBA? Are the Lakers planning on trading him?
Rich Paul answered one of the questions during his appearance on Max Kellerman’s show. The insider asked the agent if James would be with the team by the end of the season.
“No,” Paul answered. “Where’s he gonna go? … Does LeBron make the Knicks better? Yes, he would, of course, but 29 other teams would say the same thing.”
James exercised his $52.6 million player option over the summer. What surprised the fans and the media was that he wasn’t offered a contract extension. Speculations about his retirement started to surround the four-time champion following the move.
It’s expected that he could retire soon. However, James hasn’t set a timeline on when that will happen.
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Reign also writes NBA and WNBA news updates on Sportskeeda. He started as a feature writer for AirAlamo, an NBA website that covers the San Antonio Spurs. Some of his work can also be seen on Valley of the Suns, a Phoenix Suns-centric website, where he served as a contributing writer.
