Through the first 14 games of the 2025-26 season, the Los Angeles Lakers produced a 10-4 record. 

And while the Lakers may not have found themselves at the top of the Western Conference standings after that stretch, what they do have now is their future Hall-of-Famer in LeBron James back out on the court, which seems like a pretty serviceable consolation prize. 

James re-entered the lineup for his first contest of the regular season last night in Los Angeles’ 140-126 win over the Utah Jazz. He scored 11 points and tallied 12 assists in 30 minutes of action. James also shot 2-for-3 from 3-point range and 4-for-7 from the field overall. 

Lakers head coach JJ Redick was quick to praise James’ decision-making on the court, in particular citing his unselfish play throughout the game. 

“Just thought [James] played with the right spirit,” Redick said during the postgame press conference. “Very unselfish all night. Was a willing passer, didn’t force it, took his drives and his shots when they were there. The defense is going to pay attention to him, particularly when he has the ball in the post and particularly when he’s putting pressure on the rim, and I just thought he made a lot of great decisions tonight. Really good to have him back.”

James missed the first 14 games of the season with a sciatica injury, leaving the Lakers without their star forward for the first couple of weeks of the season. 

In his absence, however, Los Angeles’ available personnel carved out its own identity and fared well given all the injuries the franchise had to deal with throughout this first stretch of the campaign. 

Not only was James out for 14 games, but Vincent missed 11 games and even Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves missed 4 and 3 games, respectively, as well.

Nonetheless, the Lakers powered through and weathered an early storm in having several of its key players out for different contests. 

Now, Los Angeles is back to full capacity, as its game against Utah marked the first glimpse of the fully available  Lakers the league was waiting to see. And this new stretch began with a 14-point win for the Lakers, which, hopefully for Los Angeles’ sake, will be a harbinger of things to come with having the team’s injured players back in the lineup. 

The Lakers’ next game is against the Jazz as well, with tip-off slated for 8 p.m. EST on Nov. 23.