In a surprising turn of events, the Los Angeles Lakers will replace the injured LeBron James with guard Gabe Vincent in the starting unit when their season tips off against the Golden State Warriors on Oct. 21. Lakers head coach JJ Redick confirmed his team’s starting five before the final preseason game against the Sacramento Kings, according to The Athletic’s Jovan Buha. ESPN’s Dave McMenamin also verified that the Lakers will start Vincent, Austin Reaves, Luka Doncic, Rui Hachimura and Deandre Ayton to kick start their 2025-26 campaign. Vincent edged out Marcus Smart and Jarred Vanderbilt for the final starting role thanks to his outstanding long-range shooting in the preseason. Through four preseason games, Vincent shot a mind-blowing 55.6 percent from deep, making 3.8 threes on 6.8 attempts per game. Overall, he averaged 16.3 points and 3.0 assists on 47.4 percent shooting. Despite Vincent’s hot shooting, it was previously expected that either Smart or Vanderbilt would take the final starting spot f
