Jake LaRavia
Oct 5, 2026; Sacramento, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward Jake LaRavia (12) smiles on the bench during the second quarter against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Sergio Estrada-Imagn Images
Jake LaRavia struggled mightily to end the 2025-26 season. The Los Angeles Lakers’ two-way wing had a strong start to his first campaign in L.A., but saw his shooting numbers crater. He shot 35.3% from beyond the arc on 3.6 attempts per game in the first 39 games, then shot 27.9% on 2.4 attempts per game for the last 43 games. That became a massive story and has been a topic of conversation entering training camp and the 2026-27 preseason.
His preseason has looked significantly better, though, in a promising turn. LaRavia is 6-for-11 from beyond the arc (54.5%) through three games and is 14-of-22 (63.6%) from the field overall. Obviously, he won’t sustain those numbers over a whole season, but he clearly is shooting it more often and with greater success than at any point last season. He discussed what he did during the summer to prepare for his return to the Lakers.
“I mean, I think me being intentional before every game and all the reflection I did this past summer has really helped,” LaRavia said after Thursday’s win over the Sacramento Kings. “I think the one thing that kind of changed for me this year was focusing more on the input rather than the output, so not really focused on my makes or misses, but, ‘Am I doing everything in my control to give myself the best opportunity to make the shot?’
“So as far as the output goes, I’m not really concerned about how many shots I’m making right now because at some point, I’m also going to miss shots. But as long as the input stays the same, then I’ll be consistent.”
He admitted that many of his struggles last season were not physical, even if he did make some alterations to his shot over the summer.
“I think a lot of it was mental. Also just tweaking a couple things to make the shot a little bit more consistent. Obviously, like I put my shot more to the right side of my body now, to just make it a little bit more linear. But a lot of it was really mental. And again, this past summer really helped with that.”
LaRavia is already a key rotation piece for the Lakers entering this season. He is one of the team’s most versatile players, and one of the only true two-way players the roster has. Him getting his confidence back and returning to the shooter he was when the Lakers signed him to a two-year, $12 million deal would be massive for L.A.’s ceiling this season.
Jake LaRavia comments on Lakers’ first three preseason games
LaRavia’s resurgence has been a great story of the preseason. But his focus is more on what the whole team has accomplished. He spoke about what he’s seen through three games.
“I said after the game, I think we’re just playing really good basketball on both sides of the ball. Obviously, we’re going to make mistakes and things are going to look sloppy sometimes, but I think for the most part, our chemistry is really good right now on both sides. I think we’re doing a good job communicating to each other, helping each other out and just and having fun together.”
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Ron Gutterman is a Washington State University alum from Anaheim, California, and is currently a Staff Writer for LakersNation.com, RamsNewsWire.com, and RaidersNewsWire.com. He is also the lead editor for AngelsNation.com. With Lakers Nation, Rams News Wire, Raiders News Wire, and Angels Nation, Ron assists in news, game coverage, analysis, and hot takes via his Twitter account, @rongutterman24. Without a doubt, Ron's favorite Laker, and favorite athlete of all time, is Kobe Bryant. Ron began watching basketball when he was 6 years old, in 2005, when Bryant was dragging the likes of Smush Parker and Ronny Turiaf to playoff spots. Ron's all time favorite Lakers moment was Bryant's final game when he dropped 60 points. While the Lakers beating the Celtics in Game 7 of the NBA Finals, as Metta World Peace hit the game clinching three, will always be a top option, Bryant's final night takes the cake. Contact: ron@mediumlargela.com