Brian Windhorst Discusses LeBron James’ Crucial Role Heading Into the Playoffs

Joseph Galizia | 19/03/2026
Mar 18, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) warms up before playing against the Houston Rockets at Toyota Center.

It’s been a little more than a year since Luka Doncic joined the Los Angeles Lakers, and the inevitable has happened. Doncic has become the main man on the purple and gold outfit, taking the baton away from LeBron James, who for the first time in his career, has been forced to settle for a secondary — sometimes even tertiary — role.

In the last six games, the King has noticeably pulled back on his shooting and instead made it a primary focus to pass the rock. And Doncic, who is dealing with personal issues involving the custody of his children, has been incendiary. In that six-game stretch, Doncic had 44, 35, 31, 51, 30, and 36 points. And no surprise, the Lakers won six straight because of it.

So, is this the formula that will get it done for the Lakers in the postseason? Brian Windhorst certainly thinks so. The famed analyst spoke about this during today’s ESPN pregame coverage ahead of the Lakers’ clash against the Houston Rockets.

“It is fascinating that he (LeBron) is finding this groove at this point in his career at this point in the season. If you look at LeBron, he’s kind of moved down a bit, and Luka has kind of moved up,” Windhorst said.

It’s almost as if two ships are passing at the exact right moment. Doncic is embracing the role as face of the franchise, and instead of pouting about it, James is feeding into it.

The crazy thing about James is that he’s still putting up numbers, albeit lesser than his normal output. He had 24, 21, 16, 18, 17, and 18 points in the recent 6-0 run. Not too shabby, especially considering the future Hall of Famer is 41 years old and earlier in the season, was battling Sciatica.

Windhorst was certain to mention this. He pointed out that while his points per game is down to around 21, James’ efficiency is up.

“Luka has just had the 6 most prolific games that we’ve seen him have in a Lakers uniform when it comes to scoring. Meanwhile, it’s because LeBron’s shooting is down. By the way, his efficiency is up. He’s still making big impact,” added Windhorst.

“This is the most important game of the season thus far for the Lakers. What’s on the line in terms of the standards, what’s on the line in terms of tiebreaker, and I could say the same thing for the Rockets.”

That’s for certain. the Lakers currently sit in the third seed while Kevin Durant and Houston sit in the 4th. Both would love to have that top seeded spot for an easier first round matchup.

But as per usual, nothing is easy in the NBA anymore. It’s a game of getting hot and riding a wave of momentum. The good news for the Purple and Gold is that they are catching fire right at the tail end of the season. In a short amount of time they went from limbo playoff team to real championship contender. And it’s all because James decided to turn the keys over to the young buck. Postseason can’t get here soon enough.

Post Edited By: Somin Bhattacharjee
LeBron James Los Angeles Lakers

About the author

Joseph Galizia

Joseph is a Las Vegas based actor and circus performer. For the last seven years he's had the pleasure of covering sports for multiple outlets, including the Lifestyles section of Sports Illustrated. In that time, he's conducted over 50 interviews with athletes, filmmakers, and company founders to further cement his footprint in the journalism world. He's excited to bring that skillset to the SportsRush, where he'll be covering the NBA news cycle.

Don’t miss these