The NBA Has Officially Moved On From LeBron James: Surging Ratings Reveal the League’s New Era and Superstar Power Taking Over

The Lakers and the NBA Are Thriving—Without LeBron James

You laughed when I said LeBron James was, at best, the third option on this team—behind Luka Dončić at number one and Austin Reeves at number two. But here we are, nearly a month into the season: the Lakers are 7-2, playing their best team basketball in years, and LeBron James hasn’t played a minute.

The truth? The Lakers don’t need LeBron to sell tickets—just like they didn’t need Kareem, just like they learned they didn’t need Shaq. The uncomfortable reality is this: if LeBron comes back, he risks screwing up a formula that’s finally working. He’ll want the ball. He’ll look at Austin Reeves and say, “You weren’t even drafted. Give me the rock.” He’ll glare at Luka and say, “You joined my team. I didn’t join yours. Give me the rock.”

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The Lakers are—and will be—a better basketball team without LeBron James.

The NBA’s Renaissance Without Its “King”

The NBA just had its best two weeks in 15 years. Record-breaking viewership. Sold-out arenas. Fans glued to their screens like it’s 2010 all over again. Young stars exploding. Competitive basketball that actually matters. The kind of energy this league hasn’t felt in over a decade.

And LeBron? The so-called king, the self-proclaimed face of the NBA, the guy the media has shoved down our throats for years—he’s been sitting at home with sciatica. The league isn’t struggling without him. It’s thriving.

Two weeks into the 2025-26 NBA season, viewership numbers dropped like a bomb on every talking head who spent the last decade force-feeding us the LeBron narrative. Nationally televised games are pulling ratings not seen since 2010—when Kobe Bryant was still the king. We’re talking about a 92% increase from last season. Opening night alone brought in 5.61 million viewers, numbers that rival recent NBA Finals broadcasts.

Here’s the uncomfortable truth: last year, regular season viewership dipped to 1.53 million per game—a 2% drop. The WNBA was closing in on those numbers. But now, with LeBron out, the NBA is surging.

LeBron’s Absence: Injury or Protest?

On October 9th, the Lakers announced LeBron would miss four to six weeks with sciatica. Let’s be real: it’s an old guy injury. Some say it’s a protest—a convenient ailment for a player no longer at the center of the Lakers universe. No extension, just a one-year deal. The writing’s on the wall: the LeBron era in LA is ending.

And how does the self-proclaimed king respond to being told he’s not the guy anymore? With a mysterious injury that keeps him sidelined while the league discovers something remarkable: the Lakers are 8-3, fourth in the stacked West, running a top-10 offense and a serviceable defense.

Players who were scapegoats with LeBron on the court are suddenly balling out. Rui Hachimura looks phenomenal. DeAndre is playing perfectly fine. Jake LaRavia is having the best stretch of his life. But the real story is Austin Reeves and Luka Dončić. Reeves is averaging 31 points and nine assists per game. Luka is nearly at a 37-point triple-double average. Together, they’re combining for 72 points, 17 assists, and 16 rebounds per game, shooting over 51%. Reeves has already dropped 50 once this season.

The Numbers Don’t Lie

Look at the Lakers’ plus-minus:

Reeves: +195
Luka: +176
Rui: +158
Anthony Davis: +21
LeBron James: -54

LeBron is the only starter dragging the team down statistically. Last year, he was one of the slowest players in the entire NBA—second slowest in overall speed, fourth slowest offensively and defensively. The infamous LeBron jog on defense became a meme.

While LeBron practices with the Lakers’ G-League affiliate, the NBA is experiencing a renaissance. Nikola Jokić is having another MVP-level season. Giannis is dominant. Victor Wembanyama is leading the Spurs to the two seed in the West. The Thunder look like they might chase 70 wins. The Pistons are leading the East behind Cade Cunningham.

The NBA Is Breathing Again

Story after story, compelling basketball is happening because the league is finally able to breathe—without the weight of the forced LeBron narrative. LeBron isn’t just past his prime; he’s the symbol of everything that went wrong with the NBA over the past decade: player empowerment run amok, load management, stars playing fewer games for bigger salaries, defense becoming optional, competition taking a back seat to superteams and narratives.

LeBron led a decade-long push that watered down competitiveness. He was the face and trendsetter. Now, as he nears a comeback, the question is: what happens to the Lakers? Luka’s touches go down. Reeves’ role evaporates. The chemistry vanishes. The Lakers’ slim championship hopes disappear—because you can’t win with three ball-dominant players who all need 20+ shots.

LeBron at 41 is playing for himself—not the team. He pads stats, dominates the ball, and saves himself on defense. The NBA, after three weeks without him, remembers what basketball looks like when it’s not built around one aging star’s ego.

Commissioner Adam Silver should pay attention. The fans are speaking. The numbers are screaming. The NBA is better—significantly better—without its supposed face.

The End of an Era

LeBron turns 41 in December. The end is near, whether he admits it or not. These three weeks have shown us what should have been obvious: the NBA doesn’t need LeBron James anymore.

He was never the GOAT. Never will be. Luka is the best player. Austin Reeves is the second best. Giannis overtook LeBron years ago. Jokić is now the planet’s best. LeBron hasn’t been a top-10 player for years, and hasn’t been the Lakers’ best player for even longer. The Lakers made it clear: the LeBron era is over.

For the first time in two decades, LeBron isn’t the center of anyone’s universe. And you know what? The universe is doing just fine without him. Better than fine, actually.

The NBA is thriving. Young stars are emerging. Competition is back. Defense matters again. Teams are actually trying during the regular season. The product is compelling in a way it hasn’t been since before LeBron’s superteam experiment.

Will LeBron come back and prove everyone wrong? History suggests no. The past three years suggest no. The -54 plus-minus suggests no.

But for three glorious weeks, the NBA got to imagine life after LeBron. And what they found was a league that’s healthy, exciting, competitive, and drawing the best ratings in 15 years.

The NBA is ready to move on from LeBron James. The question is whether LeBron James is ready to move on from the NBA.

Because right now, only one of those things matters for the future of basketball—and it’s not the 41-year-old practicing with the G-League squad.