At 15-21, your Los Angeles Lakers aren’t exactly looking like a sure bet to make the postseason. Star center Anthony Davis remains out indefinitely, and although he was playing at an All-NBA level in most of his 25 available games, he has been plagued by major injuries in each of the three post-championship seasons for LA.
The rest of the team struggles to defend anywhere on the floor and is one of the league’s worst three-point shooting clubs.
So how can this club turn things around internally (ie barring any kind of roster shake-up)?
Vince Goodwill of Yahoo Sports opines that, with Anthony Davis unavailable once again, the Lakers will need the kind of floor-raising performance from 18-time All-Star forward LeBron James that the 38-year-old used to be capable of during his time leading some depth-challenged Cleveland Cavaliers clubs prior to his change of scenery in 2010, when as a free agent he ditched the Cavs for the warm beaches of Miami.
James looks more or less the same on offense, although he may not be quite as quick as he was during his Heat days, he’s still lethally athletic. He has slipped considerably on defense, perhaps in an effort to preserve his body during the 82-game marathon that is a normal NBA regular season. He is not quite his peak self, and hasn’t looked quite the same since he led LA to the 2020 title. Can he muster up some kind of otherworldly intestinal fortitude and resurrect 2012 LeBron James, or is that guy gone for good? Even with a slightly better, two-way LBJ, would this Lakers team have enough to survive a very competitive Western Conference?
This writer is skeptical.
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