The Los Angeles Lakers have not had the best season, despite being hyped up at the start of the season as a championship-level team. There is no doubt that this year has been disappointing for fans of the team.
One of the reasons that the Los Angeles Lakers haven’t been able to develop any consistency this year is injuries. LeBron James and Anthony Davis have both missed time, while Kendrick Nunn has been out the entire season.
Anthony Davis has recently commented on what the Los Angeles Lakers could have been this year when speaking to the media. Davis claimed that the team “looked really good on paper”, but added that they didn’t have “a chance to reach that potential” due to the injuries to key players on the roster.
Anthony Davis: "What could we have been if I was healthy all year, LeBron, Kendrick Nunn? You think about those things. When we put this team together, we looked really good on paper, but we haven't had a chance to reach that potential with guys being in and out of the lineup." pic.twitter.com/4yuS4I7AJW
— Michael Scotto (@MikeAScotto) April 3, 2022
“What could we have been if I was healthy all year, LeBron, Kendrick Nunn? You think about those things. When we put this team together, we looked really good on paper, but we haven’t had a chance to reach that potential with guys being in and out of the lineup.”
There is no question that on paper, the Los Angeles Lakers looked fantastic. They had multiple future Hall of Famers on the roster, and many considered them a superteam to begin the season. However, being good on paper doesn’t necessarily win championships, as coach Phil Handy noted at the start of the season.
Paper doesn’t win championships for us. Those names that are on that paper, are some phenomenal names… We gotta do our work and make sure we gel. Do we fit? These guys, they gotta figure out ways to play with each other and sacrifice, and let their names take over. You know, you look at that piece of paper and say, Lakers are loaded, automatic championship. Nah man, we got a lot of work to do in terms of just gelling, finding our rhythm and being able to be cohesive as a unit.
It is definitely unfortunate that we did not get to see a healthy Los Angeles Lakers team for the majority of the season. They could have definitely been a better team had they had more time to build chemistry with one another.
Now though, it seems unlikely that the Los Angeles Lakers will run it back with the same roster. There is no doubt that the team needs some changes, and perhaps we’ll see them this offseason.
