The Los Angeles Lakers are going to be shorthanded to start the 2025-26 season with LeBron James sidelined, meaning players like Gabe Vincent are in line for bigger roles.
Vincent is coming off a solid year for the Lakers, but stepped up in the preseason for the Lakers as both a bench player and starter.
In Los Angeles’ final preseason game, head coach JJ Redick named Vincent as one of the starters and he responded with 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting in including 4-of-5 from the 3-point line.
After preseason action concluded, Vincent discussed how he approached the offseason.
“Unfortunately we got an early exit in the playoffs and had a long offseason, but I did what I could to take advantage of it. Preparing my body, working on my game and I’m feeling good about the start of the year,” Vincent said.
As far as his hot shooting in the preseason, Vincent said he’s trusting all the hard work he put in working on his jumper.
“Well first of all it’s just a lot of work. I put a lot of work in,” he said. “There have been a lot of shots made and a lot of shots missed behind the scenes, so I got a lot of trust in myself with what I’m doing, a lot of confidence in what I’ve put forth.”
Vincent also emphasized his teammates have also contributed to how well he shot the basketball.
“Shot’s feeling good. I’ve just been trying to make it as repeatable as possible. But credit to my teammates, they’ve been working to get my shots as well especially in Vegas,” Vincent said. “They were working to get me all my looks, so it wasn’t just me coming across casting away. So credit to them, just trying to my job and be as efficient as I can be.”
With how effective Vincent was, he’s nearly cemented himself in the rotation and should expect to see heavy minutes. Redick expressed how much he appreciated Vincent’s effort on both ends of the floor in preseason, and it’ll be interesting to see how that translates in the regular season.
Luka Doncic enjoys playing with Gabe Vincent
Luka Doncic has even more of a load to carry on his shoulders with LeBron James out to start the 2025-26 season. However, Doncic can rest easy knowing that teammates like Gabe Vincent look ready to contribute.
Vincent has endeared himself to Doncic, who said he enjoys playing with the veteran.
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