The Los Angeles Lakers were eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday night after falling in a five-game, first-round series against the Minnesota Timberwolves. It marks the franchise's second straight first-round exit and it's now been five seasons since the team celebrated its last championship in 2020.

Despite having LeBron James and Luka Doncic on the roster, Los Angeles came up short against Minnesota in more ways than one. It now marks the third consecutive playoff series the team has lost, dating back to its trip to the Western Conference finals in 2023.

In fact, James and Co. haven't put up much of a fight in any of those three playoff series. In his last 14 playoff games, LeBron-led teams have mustered a rather putrid record of just 2-12. The team has been swept once and failed to win more than a single game in each of its other two playoff matchups.

In 2023, James and the Lakers were sent home by Nikola Jokic and the Nuggets in four games. In '24, that same Nuggets team eliminated Los Angeles in five games. Then, of course, the Timberwolves eliminated the Lakers in five games this year.

Rob Pelinka already stated the team intends to match James's "high expectations" for the roster during the offseason. They'll need to hope they're able to find the right pieces to pair with the ball-dominant tandem of James and Doncic in order to avoid another early playoff exit.

With James approaching the end of his career, the window for the team to take that next step is incredibly slim, and another loss in the first round in 2026 would be catastrophic.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as One Brutal Stat Shows How Ugly LeBron James’s Last Three Playoff Exits Have Been.

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