Even though the Los Angeles Lakers have been one of the best teams in the West so far this season, there have been concerns about the team’s defense and whether or not they can truly compete with the elite of the NBA. To that point, Rich Paul, the agent of LeBron James, recently expressed his belief that the Lakers as currently constructed are not a championship contender.
The Lakers had the opportunity to quiet some of their doubters by going on a run in the Emirates NBA Cup, but after a 4-0 record in group play, they were dominated in the quarterfinals by the San Antonio Spurs. The defensive concerns were on full display as they gave up 132 points to a Spurs team without superstar Victor Wembanyama.
A performance like this seemed to lend further credence to those worried about the Lakers’ ability to compete when the playoffs come around, but James feels it is far too early to even think about that.
“It’s December. What? Are you talking about the playoffs? Nah, I can’t do that,” LeBron said after the loss. “It’s not OK. Not my mindset. I can’t think about what we can do in the playoffs in December. What I can say is that the habits that we built throughout the regular season each month, if we are in a position to make it to the postseason and be able to get to that point, well, we have to build it now. But as far as talking about what type of damage we can do in the postseason in December, that’s not right for the basketball guys, not for me.”
James is not wrong in that thinking about the playoffs in December is a bit premature. The Lakers have to focus on continuing to grow as a unit and building those habits and there is no guarantee that this roster will even be the same once the postseason comes around.
But the expectations of being LeBron, and being a member of the Lakers, are always about championships more than anything else and if that is the ultimate goal, this is what comes with it. The fact that James’ own agent is talking about the Lakers’ ability to compete for a championship just shows what is most important to this franchise regardless of what part of the season we’re in.
JJ Redick believes same Lakers issues are being exposed in losses
While the Lakers haven’t lost much this season, when they do lose it tends to be by a large margin. And head coach JJ Redick feels his team’s same issues are continually being exposed in these defeats.
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