Jake LaRavia has admitted he spent much of his offseason reflecting on what went wrong during the second half of last season, with the Lakers forward determined to return with a different mindset.
LaRavia enjoyed a solid start to the 2025-26 campaign, averaging 10.0 points, 4.2 rebounds and 1.4 steals through his first 39 games while shooting 46.8% from the field and 35.3% from three.
But his production dropped significantly over the final 43 games, when he averaged 6.6 points, 2.5 rebounds and 1.2 steals while shooting 44.6% from the field and just 27.9% from deep.
Speaking at Lakers Media Day, LaRavia explained how he used the summer to address what happened.
“Yeah, this summer was a summer reflection and intentionality for me,” LaRavia said. “I think the way that…the second half of the season last season was not the way that I intended it to go. You hit mental lapses in the season. I hit a mental lapse last season and I wasn’t able to shake back from it. And as a professional athlete, that can happen, but when you play on this stage, that can’t happen.”
His other major focus was his shooting.
“So this summer, a lot of it was just mental reflection for me and working on that side of the game. And then the other thing was just working on my jump shot because that was, I think, the biggest thing. I’m going to come out every game, I’m going to play hard. I’m going to play defense. I’m going to crash and I’m going to rebound. But consistency with the shooting was a very big thing for me.”
LaRavia also wants to avoid the highs and lows that affected him last season.
“So the main thing that I’m focused on this season is just kind of being at one level, regardless of the highs or lows. We’re in the meeting, RP said something about something Kobe had said, where it was like, ‘when you’re getting the praise, ignore it. And when you’re getting the hate, ignore it. You just need to ignore everything that comes your way and just stay focused on being yourself.’”
With the Lakers relying on consistency from their wings, LaRavia will have an opportunity to turn that reflection into production this season.