LOS ANGELES — How do you prepare for LeBron James on the fast break?
According to Brooklyn Nets coach Jordi Fernandez, there isn’t a surefire way to prepare his players.
There isn’t a way to prepare for James bursting through, as Lakers coach JJ Redick called it, “the Mack Truck lane.”
“Even if you try to explain it, you don’t know until you know,” Fernandez said. “We can watch his film, … there’s nothing more better than the real reps.”
NBA players and coaches know all too well what the 41-year-old Lakers star is accomplishing on the fast break, not just throughout his career, but this season as well.
James leads the league with 5.8 fast-break points per game and is third in transition points with 7.2 per game. Over the Lakers’ last 15 games – when they went 13-2 – James has averaged 6.8 fast-break points and is the only player (10 games or more) to average more than five points. According to the NBA, 19.8% of James’ field goals this season have been dunks. That’s 82 of his 414 converted shots, a top-10 rank in the league.
Redick said that whereas Luka Doncic is the “engine” of the team’s half-court offense, James still fuels the Lakers in the transition game.
“I think there’s an enjoyment level that I think he gets from making highlight plays and it feeds into it with the crowd,” Redick said Friday. “I think that’s just part of it. The other part of it is, for him, I think he recognizes that’s one of the ways that he can really impact winning on our team. And so he’s taken responsibility of like, ‘I’m going to be the best transition player in the NBA,’ and he has been.”
#### **LAWRENCE TANTER TEMPORARILY STEPS AWAY**
Longtime Lakers public address announcer Lawrence Tanter, whose voice has reverberated during Lakers home games since the 1982-1983 season, has stepped away from the organization to recover from a health-related issue. Starting with Friday night’s game against the Nets, Jason Barquero will fill in for the Crypto.com Arena mainstay.
“The entire Lakers organization is wishing Lawrence all the best in his recovery, and we look forward to welcoming him back soon,” the Lakers said in a comment following the announcement about Tanter, 76.
Redick, who played against the Lakers many times during his 15-year NBA career, including in the 2009 NBA Finals with the Orlando Magic, said Tanter’s tantalizing voice was always a special aspect of playing in Los Angeles.
“He’s an iconic voice,” Redick said. “Playing against the Lakers for 15 years … there’s just a comfort level with (Tanter) being in this arena.”
Additionally, Spectrum SportsNet analyst and former Lakers guard Derek Fisher, filled in for normal television color commentator Stu Lantz, who was under the weather on Friday.
#### INJURY UPDATES
Veteran guard Marcus Smart remains day-to-day with a right elbow contusion after two plays against the Orlando Magic left him worse for wear to play in the final two games of the Lakers’ recent six-game trip.
“He’s making improvements,” Redick said. “He’s going to be still day to day. I mean, that’s the hope. Again, he took two hits – one fall that kind of banged his hip up and then the fall on his ankle. But he’s improving.”
Center Deandre Ayton and forward Rui Hachimura returned to action against the Nets on Friday after both sat out [Wednesday’s victory over the Indiana Pacers](https://www.ocregister.com/2026/03/25/luka-doncic-scores-43-as-lakers-start-fast-beat-pacers-to-finish-5-1-trip/).