LeBron James and whichever team he has played for in his career have almost been contenders to win an NBA Championship every year. Apart from the first few years, when he was just settling in the NBA, the playoffs feel incomplete without LeBron James.
It’s not that the Los Angeles Lakers do not have the talent to play well; in fact, before the 2021-22 NBA season started, most had them as favorites to at least make it to the NBA Finals this season.
Unfortunately, in reality, the Lakers couldn’t even qualify for the postseason. Whatever be the reason for that, the end result was the Lakers were just not good enough. The franchise will hope to put that season behind them and concentrate on next season.
LeBron certainly looks ready for the new season. But it feels like NBA analyst Colin Cowherd has already written off James and co. even before the new season kicks off.
Via Sportskeeda:
“I think this is the first year in LeBron’s last 15 to have zero chance to compete for the championship, forget winning a championship next year, that’s not gonna happen. You really think Anthony Davis is gonna be healthy for the entire season? You think the Westbrook thing is gonna turn around? Darvin Ham is a rookie coach, they got no bench, they’re too old and no players in their prime.”
It’s true that the Lakers might not have incredibly young players like many other teams, but they still have the likes of Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook alongside LBJ on the roster.
If the three players can gel together, then it is quite plausible that they might end up turning their season around. But at the same time, they also need to have a productive offseason to improve the team’s bench. Even LeBron is waiting to see what the Lakers will do in the offseason before signing a contract extension with the franchise.
