Despite the Los Angeles Lakers’ strong play in March, they quickly received a reality check in April by playing the Oklahoma City Thunder twice. LeBron James suited up in that first meeting and the team got embarrassed, losing 139-96, with both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves getting hurt.
Despite the injuries, L.A. clearly was at least a step behind Oklahoma City when it comes to contending for a championship. Now with the postseason is getting underway, James is maintaining the belief that the Thunder are favorites to repeat as champions.
“I would agree, I would agree with you when it comes to OKC,” James said on his ‘Mind the Game’ podcast after Steve Nash said the Thunder are the favorites. “I think they’ve shown the level of excellence over the last few years and playing at a high level and not getting complacent. Even in the regular season, it doesn’t matter if they’re playing a team above .500 or under .500, they go out and play. It doesn’t mean they’ve won every game, but they’ve won a majority of them and they’re the reigning champs with the MVP on their team. So, you look at them as the team to beat, as the favorite and that’s rightfully so.”
Oklahoma City coasted through another regular season, dealing with a fair amount of injuries to key players. Notably, Jalen Williams only suited up in 33 games due to hand and hamstring injuries.
Isaiah Hartenstein, Alex Caruso and Ajay Mitchell also all played under 60 games each. While teams like the Denver Nuggets and San Antonio Spurs can present potential issues for them, and maybe even the Lakers if they get healthy, it makes sense for the Thunder to be considered the favorites now that they are at full strength.
Should the Lakers make it out of the first round, they get the unfortunate prize of going against the defending champions in the second round. Hopefully, Doncic and Reaves in good enough shape to return, but L.A. would still remain underdogs in a potential series.
Does LeBron James want farewell tour before retiring?
The future remains unclear for James in terms of returning to Los Angeles for a 24th season, finding a new team or even retiring. Seeing how the Lakers finished the year, perhaps he is more open to returning to the purple and gold.
Retirement may also be more on the table than anticipated because there was an expectation that James would like a retirement tour, given his successful career. But recent reports suggest that may not be the case as James has been telling people he does not want a farewell tour in his final season.
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