This day in 2018: LeBron James’ Lakers debut ends in a 128-119 loss at Portland

LeBron James played his first game for the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, October 18, 2018, eight years ago today, and the Portland Trail Blazers spoiled it, 128-119 at Moda Center. James gave the Lakers 26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. His new team, built in a hurry around him that summer, showed how far it still had to go.

How the night unfolded

James announced himself early. Less than three minutes in, he picked off a pass near midcourt and went the length of the floor for a dunk, and he threw down another one seconds later. He finished 9 of 16 from the field and 8 of 9 at the line in a little over 37 minutes, though he missed all four of his three-point tries and committed six turnovers.

The rest of the shooting was the problem. Los Angeles missed its first 15 attempts from beyond the arc and ended 7 of 30. Portland made 13 of 37 and led 65-63 at halftime before pulling clear in a 35-point fourth quarter. Damian Lillard scored 28, going 8 for 8 at the line, and CJ McCollum added 21. The surprise was Nik Stauskas, who came off the bench for 24 points on 5-of-8 three-point shooting, 16 of them in the first half. Zach Collins blocked six shots and Jusuf Nurkic had 16 points and nine rebounds.

For the Lakers, Josh Hart scored 20 off the bench, Brandon Ingram had 16, Kyle Kuzma 15 and Rajon Rondo 13 with 11 assists. Los Angeles pulled within 124-118 in the final minute but got no closer. Afterward James said chemistry would take time and compared his team to anything but a quick fix: “It’s not instant oatmeal.”

Why it mattered then

James had left Cleveland that July after reaching eight straight NBA Finals, four with the Cavaliers, and signed a four-year deal with a franchise that had missed the playoffs five years in a row. The Lakers surrounded him with young players and a group of veterans on one-year contracts, including Rondo, Lance Stephenson, JaVale McGee and Michael Beasley.

The night belonged to Portland as much as to James. Blazers owner Paul Allen had died three days earlier at 65, and the arena opened with a moment of silence, with a rose and a Rip City cap placed in his courtside seat. The win was Portland’s 18th straight in a home opener, an NBA record, and its 16th straight over the Lakers.

What it led to

The first season did not go the way Los Angeles hoped. James strained his groin on Christmas Day, missed more than a month, and the Lakers finished 37-45 and out of the playoffs, his first missed postseason since his second NBA season, 2004-05. That summer the team traded Ingram, Hart, Lonzo Ball and draft picks to New Orleans for Anthony Davis. A year later James and Davis won the 2020 championship in the Florida bubble, the franchise’s first title in a decade.

The loss in Portland ended up as a footnote to that run. It was still the start of the longest chapter of James’ late career: years in purple and gold, a title, and the night in 2023 when he passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as the league’s career scoring leader.