Ranking LeBron James' Eight Seasons with the Los Angeles Lakers

LeBron James' time with the Los Angeles Lakers is over.

After eight seasons in the purple and gold, LeBron, through his agent, Rich Paul, announced that he will not be returning to the Lakers for a ninth season and will continue his NBA career elsewhere for a record-setting 24th season in the association.

Now that his Lakers tenure is over, the debates are only beginning. Was his time in Los Angeles a success? Should the Lakers retire his jersey? Does he deserve a statue outside Crypto.com Arena? Those conversations will continue for years to come.

But looking back, LeBron's Lakers career had some incredible highs, frustrating lows, injuries, roster failures, and ultimately one NBA championship. Here's a ranking of all eight of his seasons with the franchise, measured primarily by team success while also considering LeBron's individual performance.

8. 2021-22: 33-49, 11th in Western Conference (Missed Playoffs)

There is no debate on this.

Without the 2021-22 season was the worst season of LeBron's Lakers career.

This was the only full season Russell Westbrook spent in Los Angeles, and the experiment proved disastrous from start to finish. It wasn't just Westbrook, either. The Lakers assembled what often felt like an All-Star team from the late 2000s and early 2010s, bringing in veterans such as Carmelo Anthony, Rajon Rondo, and Dwight Howard.

On paper, the roster looked impressive. On the court, it never worked.

Westbrook was an awkward fit alongside LeBron James and Anthony Davis, the team struggled to build chemistry, and injuries only made matters worse.

Entering the season, the Lakers were widely viewed as co-favourites to win the NBA championship alongside the Brooklyn Nets. Instead, neither team won a single playoff game. The Nets were swept in the first round, while the Lakers failed to qualify for the postseason altogether.

Considering the expectations, this was unquestionably the lowest point of LeBron's tenure in Los Angeles.

7. 2018-19: 37-45, 10th in Western Conference (Missed Playoffs)

LeBron's first season with the Lakers deserves some context.

Unlike many of the seasons that followed, championship expectations weren't realistic entering that year. The Lakers were a young team led by players such as Lonzo Ball, Kyle Kuzma, Brandon Ingram, and Josh Hart. Everyone understood this was likely a transition year while the organization prepared to recruit another superstar during the following offseason.

Early in the season, things were going better than expected. On Christmas Day in 2018, the Lakers sat fourth in the Western Conference, and then LeBron suffered the first major injury of his career, when he tore his groin.

When he returned in late January or early February, everything unraveled.

The Lakers collapsed down the stretch and missed the playoffs, and what had once looked like a promising season quickly became one of the biggest disappointments of LeBron's career.

Although expectations weren't championship-level, the second half of the season was a complete disaster.

6. 2023-24: 47-35, 7th in Western Conference (Lost In Round 1 4-1 vs Nuggets)

Following an unexpected run to the Western Conference Finals the previous season, the Lakers entered 2023-24 with significantly higher expectations.

Instead, they finished as the seventh seed once again.

Unlike the previous year, there was no Russell Westbrook drama, and the team had an entire season together following the successful roster overhaul at the 2023 trade deadline. The expectation was that Los Angeles would take another step forward and continue to compete for the championship.

That didn't happen.

The Lakers underperformed throughout the regular season and were once again forced into a difficult playoff path. Their reward was another meeting with the Denver Nuggets, who eliminated them in five games after sweeping them the year before.

For a team that believed it was close to championship contention, the season ultimately fell well below expectations.

5. 2020-21: 42-30, 7th in Western Conference (Lost In Round 1 4-2 vs Suns)

This is the biggest "what if" season of LeBron's Lakers career.

Only a few months after winning the 2020 NBA championship, the Lakers entered the shortened 2020-21 season as favourites to repeat.

And to start that year, they looked up to the challenge.

The Lakers spent much of the first half atop the Western Conference standings, and LeBron emerged as the leading MVP candidate.

Then everything changed.

During a scramble for a loose ball, Solomon Hill rolled into LeBron's ankle, causing the high ankle sprain that many fans believe marked the end of LeBron's true athletic prime.

The injury dramatically altered the season.

The Lakers slid to the seventh seed, won a Play-In game against the Warriors, and, although they took a 2-1 series lead over the Phoenix Suns in the first round, injuries to both LeBron and Anthony Davis proved too much to overcome. Phoenix won the final three games to eliminate the defending champions.

It also marked the first first-round playoff loss of LeBron's career.

Considering how dominant the Lakers looked before the injuries, it's difficult not to wonder what could have been. Had the team stayed healthy, there is every reason to believe they could have returned to the NBA Finals and competed for another championship.

4. 2024-25: 50-32, 3rd in Western Conference (Lost In Round 1 4-1 vs Timberwolves)

LeBron's age-40 season was unlike anything anyone could have predicted.

First of all, he got to share the court with his son Bronny to become the first father-son duo in NBA history.

Then, the Lakers spent the first half of the year looking like a dangerous playoff team before making one of the biggest trades in NBA history on February 1, 2025, when they acquired Luka Dončić from the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for Anthony Davis.

After that trade, while it may have been urealistic, expectations isntantly changed.

A team that had simply hoped to be a difficult first-round matchup suddenly carried championship expectations; pairing two of the smartest and most gifted offensive players the league has ever seen naturally created enormous excitement.

Despite having little time to build chemistry, the Lakers moved up to the third seed in the Western Conference.

Unfortunately, their postseason ended quickly.

The younger, more athletic Minnesota Timberwolves overwhelmed Los Angeles in five games, with Anthony Edwards proving to be a superstar capable of leading Minnesota deep into the playoffs.

While the season featured plenty of excitement, a first-round exit after earning the No. 3 seed was ultimately an unacceptable result.

3. 2022-23: 43-39, 7th in Western Conference (Lost In Western Conference Finals 4-0 vs Nuggets)

The 2022-23 season completely changed once the trade deadline arrived.

The Lakers struggled badly during the first half of the season while Russell Westbrook remained on the roster, and it seemed like the only accomplishment from that season would be when LeBron broke Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's all-time scoring record to become the all-time NBA leader.

However, at the deadline, the front office completely reshaped the team.

Westbrook was moved in a deal centred around D'Angelo Russell, Jared Vanderbilt, and Malik Beasley, while Rui Hachimura, who was acquired earlier that season, gave the Lakers much-needed shooting and depth, and once Westbrook was dealt, that is when Austin Reaves suddenly turned himself into a star.

The roster suddenly made sense.

Los Angeles earned the seventh seed through the Play-In Tournament before upsetting the second-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in the opening round.

They followed that by defeating the defending champion Golden State Warriors in six games, giving fans one final playoff showdown between LeBron James and Stephen Curry.

The magical run eventually ended in the Western Conference Finals.

Although every game against the Denver Nuggets was competitive, the Lakers were swept in four games.

Reaching the conference finals far exceeded preseason expectations, but once a team reaches the NBA's final four, failing to win even one game leaves a sense of unfinished business.

2. 2025-26: 53-29, 3rd in Western Conference (Lost In Round 2 4-0 vs Thunder)

LeBron's final season with the Lakers was one of the most impressive of his Lakers tenure.

He began the season sidelined by sciatica and didn't make his debut until November. Once healthy, he seamlessly adjusted to playing alongside Luka Dončić and Austin Reaves, willingly accepting a smaller offensive role rather than becoming a distraction.

When injuries later sidelined both Dončić and Reaves heading into the playoffs, few gave the Lakers any chance.

Most people expected the Houston Rockets to dominate the series.

Instead, LeBron delivered the most remarkable playoff performance ever by a 41-year-old.

The Lakers raced out to a 3-0 series lead before ultimately winning in six games, completing one of the biggest postseason upsets in recent NBA history.

Although Los Angeles was swept by the Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round, the circumstances matter.

Leading an undermanned team past a heavily favoured Houston squad without his two biggest offensive stars made this one of the most successful and memorable seasons of LeBron's Lakers career, especially considering it proved to be his final year with the franchise.

1. 2019-20: 52-19, 1st in Western Conference (Won NBA Championship)

No other season could be No. 1.

LeBron's second year in Los Angeles delivered exactly what both he and the Lakers envisioned when he signed in 2018, the franchise's 17th title.

Some continue to diminish the accomplishment because it occurred inside the NBA bubble following the COVID-19 shutdown.

I just don't agree with it.

Before the season paused, the Lakers had established themselves as the league's best team. During the final weekend before the shutdown, they defeated both the Milwaukee Bucks and the Los Angeles Clippers, arguably their two biggest championship threats.

Anthony Davis, in his first season with the Lakers, dominated on both ends of the floor, while LeBron was firmly in the MVP race alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo.

The season also carried enormous emotional weight following the tragic passing of Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in a helicopter crash in January of 2020.

Whether the season had finished normally or inside the bubble, it's difficult to believe the outcome would have been different.

The Lakers were the NBA's best team.

They defeated the Miami Heat to capture the franchise's 17th championship, validating LeBron's decision to come to Los Angeles, and it will be remembered as the defining achievement of his 8 years in LA.

Now, as LeBron prepares for the next (and likely final) chapter of his historic career, his time in Los Angeles leaves behind a legacy filled with both highs and lows, but one that will forever include bringing another championship to one of the NBA's most iconic franchises.