Chandler Parsons has spent months defending Luka Doncic. When Michelle Beadle said Doncic was not “a championship team guy,” Parsons fired back that he “has taken a worse team to the Finals than this Knicks team.” Now, with LeBron James gone to Philadelphia and the Lakers fully Doncic’s team for the first time since Dallas traded him to Los Angeles in February 2025, the former Mavs forward is taking his turn at the new-look roster.
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On FanDuel TV’s Run It Back, the conversation started with DeMarcus Cousins. “[The Lakers] are different. This is now the Luka [Doncic] era,” Cousins said. Lou Williams agreed that “different is a great way to put it.”
Cousins then compared them to the old Hickory High team from Hoosiers, and Williams brought up JJ Redick, who had joked at the Lakers’ preseason press conference that two of his starters “will not be two white guys.”
That is when Parsons gave his verdict on the team. As the resident white, I’ll say it. They are way too damn white.” He wasn’t only joking. Parsons said the Lakers will have to “back door cut you to death because they are not that talented,” though he still expects Doncic to win MVP.
He wasn’t only joking. Parsons said the Lakers will have to “back door cut you to death because they are not that talented,” though he still expects Doncic to win MVP.
Williams went further on the basketball side. He called the Lakers a “middle of the pack” team in the West, and asked what the Lakers have behind their two stars.
“After Austin Reaves and after Luka, who’s the next guy that can give you that? … I like 6 or 7 teams before I like the Lakers,” he said. That is where the talent debate comes in, since Williams was questioning the supporting cast, not only the roster’s makeup.
The panel’s comments point to a team that looks very different from last season. The Lakers lost LeBron James to the 76ers, gave Reaves a $185 million contract, and spent two first-round picks to land Walker Kessler. Reaves was the only free agent they re-signed, and the front office otherwise remade the roster around Luka Doncic.
Doncic, Reaves, Kessler and Quentin Grimes are expected to start, with Jake LaRavia and Sandro Mamukelashvili competing for the fifth spot. The bench includes Collin Sexton, Jaden Hardy, Matisse Thybulle, Kevon Looney and Jarred Vanderbilt. It’s a deep group, but there’s no third star, which is exactly what Williams was pointing at.
Nobody is questioning Doncic. He won the scoring title last season with 33.5 points per game, plus 7.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists, and made the All-NBA First Team. A hamstring injury in April kept him out of the playoffs, and the Lakers were swept by Oklahoma City in the second round. This summer the front office rebuilt around him and got him the center he wanted in Kessler. That puts the criticism on the supporting cast, not the star.
The weak spots are widely discussed. A preview called perimeter defense its biggest issue and pointed to the lack of a true starting-caliber power forward. Another preview noted that if Doncic gets hurt, it would be hard to see the Lakers winning many games without him. That fits Williams’ worry about what comes after Doncic and Reaves.
It is a familiar argument for Parsons too. Earlier this year, he said Doncic, coach JJ Redick, and Rob Pelinka would be the ones blamed if the Lakers fell short, and urged the front office to add shooting and defense around Doncic.