• Bill Plaschke writes the Lakers look lighter and are more fun to watch without LeBron James on the roster.
• Plaschke notes the Philadelphia 76ers, meanwhile, appear to be struggling with the challenges that go along with James.

They fly around the court, Luka Magic to AR to that new guy who dunks.

These joyous new Lakers have wings.

LeBron James would have grounded them.

They gesture to the crowd, point to each other, fill the postgame interviews with jokes and laughter and connection.

LeBron James would have silenced them.

Barely a week into the Lakers’ season, ignoring the records, forgetting the statistics, only one thing is abundantly clear.

The Lakers are better off without LeBron.

The Lakers are thriving without LeBron.

He is not missed. He is not mourned. He is living in exile in New York, from where he commutes by helicopter to Philadelphia, where he plays for the 76ers but is not really part of the Sixers and … it’s a mess.

Thank goodness he’s somebody else’s mess.

Since leaving the Lakers moments before they kicked him out, James has continued to prove that, despite being arguably the greatest player in history, he is becoming more distraction than demigod.

The Lakers feel 270 pounds lighter without him. The Sixers look like they’re bearing the weight of the world with him.

Start with opening night. While the Lakers were embracing their new star — Walker Kessler had the best shooting night since Wilt Chamberlain by going 12 for 12 against the Golden State Warriors — the Sixers couldn’t even survive the national anthem with their new star.

Did you see it? Before their game against the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, James basically ignored the national anthem and mimicked a golf swing and a jump shot while his teammates stood solemnly nearby.

This caught the attention of President Trump, who quickly attacked James on social media by posting the video and an accompanying scolding.

“While listening to our National Anthem, LeBron James disrespects our Country! I said right from the beginning that he’s no good, a TOTAL DISGRACE. LeBron James should apologize to all those Great American Warriors and Heroes who died for the American Flag and all that our Country stands for!”

James was asked about the comments, of course, and he essentially shrugged in response.

“It’s a slow news day at the office, you know,” James told reporters. “Slow news day in the office.”

With James in your locker room, it’s never a slow news day at the office, and, for eight years, that drove the Lakers cuckoo. Instead of focusing strictly on the team, the Lakers always had to keep an eye on James and what self-serving agenda he might be pushing next.

This year for the Lakers, opening night rolled along with no controversy beyond Doncic exchanging some fun trash talk with Warriors rookie Yaxel Lendeborg and, after the Lakers win, a fun congratulations from coach JJ Redick.

He didn’t single out one player and a bunch of shots, instead citing admiration for his team’s work after the whistle.

“Dead balls, timeouts, those guys were on the court problem-solving together,” he said.

This is Luka’s team, but it’s everybody’s team. For the previous eight years it had been LeBron’s team, and nobody’s team.

So happy he’s gone. So interested to watch what will happen here next. So bored with everything that is happening in Philadelphia.

A few days into the season LeBron once again showed the problem with his presence. Because of injuries, the Sixers started him at center for the 15th time in his 24-year career. And after he had all of two rebounds in a loss to the Detroit Pistons, he said he didn’t want to make playing center a habit.

“We got an MVP over there. I’m not here to have a sustainable role at the 5,” James said. “You got Joel Embiid on the team. ... If I was to say I was signed here to have a sustainable role at the 5, I don’t think none of us would actually want that. I can do it, but ... we have [Embiid].”

LeBron couldn’t even wait a week before smothering the locker room with his dissatisfaction.

Meanwhile, Doncic was becoming the third Laker ever with 50-plus points and 10-plus assists in a win against Utah. He was so fun on this rare Sunday afternoon game, your humble correspondent switched away from the televised Rams game to watch Luka Magic, which included fall-away treys and one-footed treys and all sorts of gestures befitting a man who scored 52 points and joined a club containing Elgin Baylor and Jerry West.

Then afterward, instead of waxing in his own success, Doncic took time to publicly console Kessler, who took only two shots after two huge opening games.

“He had two fantastic first games, which was awesome.,” Doncic told reporters. “I told him, just move on, we won this game, and we got your back.”

These Lakers have each other’s backs, something which was missing in the LeBron era. Back then, their culture revolved around who LeBron liked, what he wanted, and how were the Lakers going to accommodate him.

A bravo new world indeed.

“I’m excited,” Redick told reporters earlier this week. “I’m excited to continue to get better as a team and grow. I mean, that’s really what we’re trying to do right now, especially in the early stages of the season.”

Redick coolly referenced John R. Asher and George H. Adams, two famous cartographers whose name was on their Salt Lake City hotel.

“We stayed at the Asher Adams Hotel, and those guys were early cartographers for the western expansion of the railroad, and that’s kind of what you’re doing,” Redick said. “You know, as the season starts like you’re mapping sort of who you can be, every new game early in the season, you’re discovering something different, combinations that work, lineups that work, whatever it may be, and that’s exciting.”

The new Lakers map is truly filled with endless possibilities.

Especially now that they have rid themselves of that dead end named LeBron James.