Lakers budding stars summer of reflection sparking early promise

Jake LaRavia knew he’d have to make changes. Adapt. Tweak his approach entering his second year with the Lakers after a 2025-26 season that started with personal highs came with a disappointing ending. LaRavia, 24, had the biggest role on the best team he played for last season with the Lakers.He played in a career-high 82 regular season games – one of the league’s 18 Iron Men in 2025-26 – started more than half (43) of the regular season and nearly played as many minutes last season (2,061) as he did in the previous four seasons of his NBA career combined (2,569).The two-year, $12 million contract signed with the Lakers during the 2025 offseason was looking like a steal for the franchise for the first half of the season.But then LaRavia started slumping. His perimeter shot went from reliable to suspect, with the Pasadena, CA native shooting 26.2% on 3-pointers during the final 23 games of the regular season. LaRavia’s offensive aggression dipped along with his shooting percentages. And after being a focal point in the rotation the entire season, his playing time in the playoffs diminished, including receiving a pair of DNP-CD’s (did not play – coach’s decision) in the Lakers’ final two playoff games of their second-round sweep to the Thunder.“This summer was a summer reflection and intentionality for me,” LaRavia said.“The second half of the season last season was not the way that I intended it to go.

You hit mental lapses in the season.I hit a mental lapse last season and I wasn’t able to shake back from it.

And as a professional athlete, that can happen, but when you play on this stage, that can’t happen.So this summer, a lot of it was just mental reflection for me and working on that side of the game.“The other thing was just working on my jump shot because that was the biggest thing.

I’m going to come out every game, I’m going to play hard.I’m going to play defense.

I’m going to crash and I’m going to rebound.B...