No Booker, no Green, no chance as LeBron takes over

The Suns took on the Lakers on Friday night, and the result was not surprising. Los Angeles came in banged up, but Phoenix essentially waved the white flag with neither Devin Booker nor Jalen Green available. Would it have mattered? We will never know.

What we did see was a heavy dose of the youth movement. Plenty of minutes, plenty of opportunity. The return was modest. These are players stepping into roles they are not used to, and while it looked functional in the first half, once the shots stopped falling in the second half, it unraveled in a way that felt predictable. The offense got clunky. It lost its edge. And the Suns were handled by a 41-year-old LeBron James.

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You try to walk away from a game like this asking what you learned. The answer felt simple. LeBron James is still a beast at 41. It is unfair. I have never been the biggest LeBron supporter, but there has always been respect for what he is as a player and how he has carried himself. That part remains. He delivered on Friday night, in a game the Lakers needed to help secure the fourth seed and home court in the first round. That showed.

As for the Suns, the takeaway is clear. The youth is youthful. There is growth ahead before it becomes part of something cohesive. And that is fine.

You pack this one up and move on. People talk about the grind of an 82-game season, but this one felt different. For the Suns, it felt like an 80-game season.

Bright Side Baller Season Standings

Booker’s Bright Side Baller count is officially old enough to snag a tasty beverage at the bar. That’s right, with his 37-pointer against the Mavs on Wednesday, and the graciousness of your votes, Booker now has 21 BSB’s on the season.

Bright Side Baller Nominees

Game 81 against the Lakers. Here are your nominees:

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Royce O’Neale
11 points (4-of-10, 2-of-7 3PT), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 turnover, 0 +/-

Oso Ighodaro
8 points (3-of-4), 10 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 turnover, +3 +/-

Grayson Allen
8 points (2-of-7, 1-of-5 3PT), 4 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 2 turnovers, +5 +/-

Dillon Brooks
12 points (5-of-14, 0-of-4 3PT), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 3…

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Publish date : 2026-04-11 12:00:00

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