The 2024-25 season is on the horizon for the Los Angeles Lakers with Media Day and training camp getting underway in less than a week.
This time of year is usually an exciting one although things don’t seem to be getting off to the best start for the Lakers. After an offseason in which they didn’t make any roster upgrades, they are already dealing with injuries to key players like Christian Wood and Jarred Vanderbilt.
It is good to see that Gabe Vincent, Cam Reddish and Jalen Hood-Schifino should be ready for training camp, however.
Many of the players on the roster have been working out in L.A. in recent weeks to get ready for the season. That preparation usually includes a player-led minicamp in the week before training camp, but it appears that won’t be the case this year, per Dan Woike of the L.A. Times:
LeBron James appeared on Lakers’ social media this week in the team’s weight room, a sign that his post-Olympic reset has come to a close. These kinds of long summers, the one that he and Anthony Davis agreed to in service of country, push everything else back and change offseason plans.
Both players are back in the gym, though things in the upcoming weeks will be a little different. The team, as of now, will not be taking one of the player-led minicamps that it’s done in the past.
It appears the Lakers will be doing some things differently under new head coach JJ Redick, and that includes getting rid of their minicamp that is usually led by LeBron James.
That weekend is typically good for building chemistry, but considering much of the Lakers’ roster is unchanged from last season, they may not need that before training camp and the preseason.
Jeanie Buss discusses how Lakers can silence critics
The Lakers didn’t make any roster moves this offseason other than drafting Bronny James and Dalton Knecht, which has led to a lot of criticism when it comes to their championship hopes. When discussing how the Lakers can silence those critics, Jeanie Buss had an easy answer.
“Really, you gotta play basketball and win games. I know the criticism out there. I know social media is rough waters for everybody. There’s always controversy being stirred up on social media. That’s why it doesn’t really serve me to hype everything up. It’s just, you gotta do the work. And that’s how our organization operates. We do the work. We worry about what we can control and let the work speak for itself.”
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