For the second consecutive year, Los Angeles Lakers training camp will take place at the UCLA Health Training Center, which opened prior to the 2017-18 NBA season. Media Day is set for Monday, Sept. 24, with training camp opening Tuesday, Sept. 25.
While the Lakers have previously held some of their training camps in Hawaii or Santa Barbara, this allows them to maximize the facility’s state-of-the-art resources.
With the 2018-19 NBA preseason opener taking place on Sept. 30 against the Denver Nuggets in San Diego, Calif., all of the attention will naturally be on LeBron James, but there will be other interesting storylines as well.
Since president of basketball operations Magic Johnson and general manager Rob Pelinka improved the team’s depth, head coach Luke Walton revealed there will be an open competition on who will start alongside James.
Heading into training camp, Lonzo Ball, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Brandon Ingram and JaVale McGee are projected to join James. Within the starting lineup, the competition in the backcourt could get interesting with Rajon Rondo and Josh Hart deserving some consideration.
Along with the competition, much of the conversation during the offseason has been about the free agent signings and their unique personalities. While McGee, Rondo, Lance Stephenson, and Michael Beasley all having certain reputations, they all love to play basketball and should energize James while helping the young core improve.
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