Since LeBron James signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2018, it has been a bit of a roller coaster for the fans and the franchise. There has been a fair share of constant roster shake up from year to year, making it hard to find continuity and consistency.
After winning the championship in 2020, the expectation is to win more with James-led teams and the Lakers organization. However, the Lakers missed the playoffs in 2018-19 and 2021-22, were eliminated in the first round in 2020-21.
This past season they may have turned a page though by making the Western Conference Finals and retaining the key pieces of that team, which will finally give the organization some continuity as they look for their 18th championship.
Lakers legend Magic Johnson seems to be a firm believer in this team heading into next season with the new acquisitions and returning players, according to Broderick Turner of the L.A. Times:
“This is a Western Conference championship team. We could actually win everything if we can stay healthy. This team has a real shot. We got three guys — LeBron, AD and D’Angelo — to keep healthy. But with this team, it allows them to take longer breaks because we got guys that can put it in the basket. Listen, it’s not going to be easy for nobody in the West. It’s not going to be easy for Denver to repeat, even though you always got to pick the champion as the favorite right now, and I do. But the Lakers, Memphis with the trades they made, Phoenix and Golden State, and Sacramento and Denver, man, the West is going to be hard.”
The Lakers exceeded expectations by earning the seventh seed and making it to the Conference Finals in 2023, but for the organization, it is always championship or bust. As Johnson mentioned, the Western Conference is going to be even more competitive with teams getting better and/or getting players back healthy.
While L.A. did get better and seems to be in the contending tier of teams this upcoming season, it’ll be far from an easy task and will require health and maintaining James’ and Anthony Davis’ workload to stay fresh for the postseason run. James and Davis are still one of the best duos in the league, but the goal is to get in the playoffs as healthy as possible and let the chips fall where they may.
Johnson is joining in on the consensus that the Lakers built upon their success this past season are going to be one of the top teams in the West this year.
Magic Johnson endorses Rob Pelinka for Executive of the Year
When Johnson was in the front office with Pelinka, they shared their disputes and had a falling out when the former stepped down from basketball operations. However, the Hall of Famer gave Pelinka his credit for what he did at last season’s trade deadline and free agency, believing he should win NBA Executive of the Year.
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