Lakers Basketball is Back
Tonight, the light at the end of the tunnel finally opens up wide as your Los Angeles Lakers return to the court to play the Phoenix Suns. This will be their first of seven preseason games, which they will play before opening night against Minnesota on October 24th.
THE LOS ANGELES LAKERS PLAY BASKETBALL TONIGHT 🔥 pic.twitter.com/fmrENRPGhD
— Lakers All Day Everyday (@LADEig) October 3, 2025
It’s been a busy summer for Los Angeles. From FA signings like Ayton, Smart, and LaRavia, to drafting a stud like Adou Thiero, to Luka’s dominance overseas, it finally begins to all come together tonight. Although it is just a preseason game, there is still a fair amount to be excited about as a Lakers fan.
Let’s check out who will be out due to injury/rest, and who you should be excited to see take the floor.
Lakers Injury Report
As previously stated, it is just a preseason game tonight. So while the energy on the court will be high, we might not get a solid look at all our favorites.
Among the bigger names on the team, LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Marcus Smart will not suit up tonight. LeBron, due to some glute tenderness established through the first days of training camp, and Smart is dealing with Achilles tendinopathy. Doncic is healthy, but set to miss the first two preseason games as he recovers from a busy summer of Eurobasket hoops.
These are minor concerns that should not be a cause for worry in the long term. Head coach JJ Redick shared with the media that LeBron’s camp and the team have come to the conclusion to take a cautious approach with LeBron throughout training camp, as he enters an unprecedented 23rd year in the league. Redick also mentioned that Smart should be a full participant in camp by next week.
The other players missing tonight will be rookie Adou Theiro and Maxi Kleber. Theiro revealed that he is still not cleared due to his knee injury, but similarly to Smart, he should be ramping up next week. Kleber, on the other hand, recently sustained a quad injury during training camp that shouldn’t be serious, but the team might as well use the preseason to be cautious.
JJ Redick says LeBron James is dealing with nerve irritation in his glute and was held out of practice Tuesday. Gabe Vincent, Marcus Smart and Adou Thiero were also out with injuries. pic.twitter.com/yNluN0ow3S
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) September 30, 2025
While Austin Reaves isn’t injured, he’s set to play limited minutes tonight. Reaves has had a large workload, especially throughout training camp, as alluded to by coach Redick.
Lakers New Signings
Tonight will be the first time fans of the Purple and Gold are able to view some of the new talent acquired over the offseason. While Smart, as previously mentioned, will miss tonight’s action, we will get our first looks at Deandre Ayton and Jake LaRavia as Lakers.
Ayton will have a chance to show his former team what they’re missing, while LaRavia is ready to prove to fans why they should not have slept on his signing.
The Lakers play basketball today 🗣️🗣️ pic.twitter.com/2iB5QL1Iad
— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 3, 2025
Outside of them, we’ll likely also get to see some of the smaller-name pickups the Lakers made towards the tail end of the offseason. Two to watch out for will be the new additions, Anton Watson and Nick Smith Jr.
Watson brings the Gonzaga connection with Rui and has played for some iconic franchises throughout his young career, including the Celtics and Knicks. Why not add the greatest franchise in the sport to the list? Look for the big-bodied forward to leave his mark on the glass and down low in the paint.
Smith Jr was a first-round pick by the Charlotte Hornets in 2023, so there is talent in there for sure. The sharpshooter out of Arkansas was recently signed to one of the team’s available two-way deals, so look for him to try and score in bunches for the Lakers throughout the preseason, as well as the South Bay Lakers.
Familiar Faces
With many of the stars and higher-level players set to play minimal minutes tonight, it will be an opportunity for some of the others to gain valuable in-game experience. Fan favorites like Bronny James Jr and Dalton Knecht should be getting a good amount of run.
Bronny has had an entire offseason dedicated to improvement, which is encouraging, given some of the progress we, as fans, were already witnessing by the end of last season. A jump from him specifically on the defensive end could alter things drastically for LA.
On the flip side, the last time we saw Dalton Knecht, he was frankly stinking it up in the Vegas Summer League. As a player of his caliber, he should have looked head and shoulders above the competition, but simply didn’t. Dare I say he almost seemed to have regressed?
Whenever Knecht is asked about the dramatic recinded trade between Charlotte and Los Angeles involving him and Mark Williams, he says he’s over it and that it doesn’t bother him. His play since the trade tells a different story. Tonight is an outstanding chance for the second-year flamethrower to prove the doubters wrong.
It’s not the regular season yet by any means, but Lakers basketball is officially back, and I, like the rest of you, can not wait to see what this season holds.
