Rich Paul didn't exactly break out the victory parade over the Lakers' strong start. Instead, LeBron James' agent fired a pretty direct warning shot.
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On the debut episode of his new Game Over podcast with Max Kellerman, Paul said the Lakers may look good in December, but they're not built to reach the Western Conference Finals as currently constructed.
"I personally don't think the Lakers are good enough to be contenders right now," Paul said. "Not right now. I don't think they have enough to get to the Western Conference Finals."
Paul pointed to the same issue that derailed Los Angeles last spring, getting swallowed up by teams with youth, size and speed.
"When you go into the playoffs, we've seen last year, they ran into athleticism and length. They struggled," Paul said. "When you look at it now ... can the Lakers play fast? I don't think so. That style of play is going to be very easy to guard when you get to the playoffs."
Rich Paul doesn’t think the Lakers are contenders
“I personally don’t think the Lakers are good enough to be contenders, not right now. I don’t think they have enough to get to WCF… their style of play will be very easy to defend when you get into playoffs”
(Via Game over with… pic.twitter.com/FPyccnFRQm
— NBA Courtside (@NBA__Courtside) December 9, 2025
The Lakers are off to a 17-6 start and still sit in that "potential contender" bucket. Whether they belong in the same tier as Oklahoma City, Minnesota or Denver is the real debate — and Paul clearly isn't convinced.
This could also be Paul doing what Klutch has done before, as in publicly nudging the front office to make a move. But for an agent to openly question his star client's team? Probably not the storyline the Lakers wanted floating around during a hot start.
Still, if Paul's comments were designed to spark urgency, message delivered.
