The Los Angeles Lakers’ 2025/26 season has been a rollercoaster for fans, who have spent one moment celebrating wins and the next worrying about defensive lapses and an offense that seems to fumble on set plays repeatedly. But the records show that not all is bad, and that’s what Luka Doncic emphasized.
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Having now completed 41 games, the Lakers are officially at a midway point in their season. They’re sixth in the West, with a 25-16 record with plenty to work on to emerge as a genuine post-season threat.
Doncic knows that they have to be sharper in the second half, but insisted that their record isn’t all that bad. Some, would of course, disagree, considering the Lakers were hovering around the #2 spot at one point early in the season. But the Slovenian superstar has his reasons.
“It’s not a bad record,” Doncic said after the Lakers’ win over the Toronto Raptors on Sunday. “Obviously, it could be better but sometimes, we play like this [against Toronto] and against Atlanta, it gives us a better chance to win.”
Doncic scored 25 in the Lakers’ 110-93 victory over the Raptors. It was a rather comfortable outing for the whole purple and gold outfit. And against Atlanta, they won 141-116. These games instilled confidence in them that they have what it takes to compete at the highest level.
Luka on the first half of the season:
“It’s not a bad record obviously it could be better” pic.twitter.com/JG5TdKwBef
— Oh No He Didn’t (@ohnohedidnt24) January 19, 2026
The story of the Lakers’ season, however, has been inconsistency. Doncic spoke about the teams they defeated but did not mention the blowout losses to the Hornets and the Trail Blazers that came within a span of just a few days. So when he said the Lakers can be “better,” it could not be more accurate.
Doncic, however, suggested that by looking at how they won against Toronto and Atlanta, they can create a blueprint to follow. The Lakers have a bunch of difficult games coming up against the Clippers, Warriors, Thunder, and Spurs. They can’t be loose and chaotic in offense and defense against these elite sides.
