After a disappointing postseason performance last season, the Los Angeles Lakers have put in a lot of effort to bolster their team in the offseason. While the purple and gold have obvious star players in LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook, they have established an amazing support cast for them too.
Former Blazers players Carmelo Anthony and Kent Bazemore both signed with the Lakers this offseason in hopes of winning an NBA championship. If all goes well, the two players will get their first rings in the upcoming season. Although everything might seem well and good between the players, a few years ago, that wasn’t the case.
In 2014, Bazemore was playing for the purple and gold, but his position with the team was not permanent. Bazemore did extremely well, but the organization pulled back the qualifying offer in hopes to sign Carmelo Anthony to a max deal.
Bazemore talked about his reaction to getting snubbed in an interview with SB Nation’s Silver Screen And Roll.
“It’s funny, you mention that,” Bazemore said. “That kind of lit a fire underneath me a little bit back in the day when I used to hold on to those kinds of things before I understood the business side of everything. But I’m just very fortunate to have another opportunity to play in the best league of basketball and one of the greatest organizations in any sport. I played with Carmelo up in Portland.”
As Bazemore said, it was bad being snubbed, but he didn’t let that rejection let him down. Instead, he improved his game and now has a chance to win an NBA title with statistically the most successful team in NBA history.
Moreover, Bazemore has already played with Melo in Portland, so it will be exciting to see what the duo will bring to the table for the team. Hopefully, this will be the year they can finally get their hands on the glorious Larry O’Brien trophy.
Where do you rank the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2021-22 NBA season? Do you think they can lift the title? Feel free to share your opinions in the comments section below.
