One of the most anticipated games on Tuesday night was between the Los Angeles Lakers and the San Antonio Spurs. Unfortunately, the game didn’t live up to the hype since the Lakers decided to rest all of their star players. Luka Doncic, LeBron James and Austin Reaves were all on the sidelines to the dismay of many fans and analysts.
Advertisement
As good as the Lakers have been, the reality is they’re not as good as they want to be. LA currently sits at the fifth seed, but is only half a game from dropping to the seventh seed. On the other hand, the Spurs are one of the best teams in the NBA. This game would’ve been the perfect opportunity for the Lakers to make a statement.
Instead, they sacrificed any chance of winning by resting their stars. Consequently, Victor Wembanyama took advantage en route to complete domination. The third-year superstar finished with 40 points in just 26 minutes. 37 of those points came in the first half. In the end, it resulted in a 136-108 loss for the Lakers.
Now, some people may turn a blind eye to this game due to the absence of Doncic, James and Reaves. However, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith wasn’t about to let it go.
“A star came into the building in Tinseltown, and none of the stars for the Los Angeles Lakers were in uniform, ready to play. That is disgraceful,” Smith proclaimed on ESPN’s First Take.
“If … LeBron James [is] off, make sure somebody else is playing. … Everybody? That’s disrespectful.”
—@stephenasmith on the Lakers sitting LeBron, Luka and Austin Reaves pic.twitter.com/pEVJFKYQ0O
— First Take (@FirstTake) February 11, 2026
It should be noted that none of the Lakers’ stars missed the game while being fully healthy. Doncic missed his third straight game with a hamstring strain, James sat out due to left foot arthritis, while Reaves continues to recover from a calf strain fully.
It also didn’t help that the team was on the second night of a back-to-back, having just played against the defending champions, the Oklahoma City Thunder the night before. The team’s decision may not have been to the liking of fans, but it is certainly with reason. Nonetheless, a better management could easily have avoided this situation, in Smith’s opinion.
“If you have LeBron James off, make sure somebody else is playing,” Smith said, reiterating, “Everybody? That’s disrespectful.”
The Lakers are about to play the fourth game of their current homestand, which will be the last before the All-Star break. It would be great for fans to be able to see their team against the Dallas Mavericks.
A day of rest will surely help in those efforts but only time will tell if Doncic, James or Reaves will return to the lineup.
