The Los Angeles Lakers have begun their training camp for the 2025-26 NBA season, and there was something that stood out during opening day on Tuesday. The Lakers players were wearing shirts with “OBSESS18N” written on them, and Arash Markazi explained the reason behind it on X.
“Lakers players are wearing ‘Obsession’ shirts at training camp with 18 in it, signifying the 18th championship they are trying to win this season.”
Lakers head coach JJ Redick has demanded championship habits from his players this season. They are fixated on winning the title, and you can see Lakers big man Deandre Ayton in the shirt below.
The Lakers won their 17th NBA championship in 2020, and that tied them with the Boston Celtics for the most titles in league history. The two teams weren’t level for too long, though, as the Celtics won their 18th championship in 2024 to edge ahead of their eternal rivals once again.
That gave the Lakers some additional motivation entering the 2024-25 season. They did manage to get the third seed in the West with a 50-32 record, but were eliminated in five games by the Minnesota Timberwolves in the first round of the playoffs. It was a disappointing finish to a campaign that seemed to promise much.
Fortunately for the Lakers, the Celtics weren’t able to extend their lead as they lost in six games to the New York Knicks in the Eastern Conference Semifinals. Their superstar forward, Jayson Tatum, tore his Achilles tendon in the series as well, which has ensured they won’t be competing for the championship in 2025-26.
So, the Lakers have been presented with another opportunity to tie the Celtics on 18 titles, but will they be able to take advantage? It doesn’t look very likely at this point.
The Lakers should be in the running for a top-four seed in the West this upcoming season, but they aren’t regarded as one of the big favorites to get to the Finals. As things stand, the Oklahoma City Thunder, who are the defending champions, and the Denver Nuggets look like the two best teams in the West.
The Lakers needed to address certain issues this offseason to be part of that group. They had to add a starting caliber center, and did manage to bring in Ayton to fix that problem. The other big issue was defense, and they addressed it to an extent by bringing in Marcus Smart, who won DPOY in 2022.
Smart, who has missed significant time with injuries over the last two seasons, isn’t going to transform that defense by himself, though. The Lakers could do with more two-way players, which explains their interest in Andrew Wiggins. If they don’t manage to bring in a player of that profile, you’d think they will ultimately end up falling just short in their quest to win that 18th championship.
If the Lakers do manage to improve on the defensive end, though, then this would be a team that no one would want to face in the playoffs. They should be incredible offensively with LeBron James and Luka Doncic leading the way, and crucially, those two have delivered in the postseason time and time again. Only time will tell if they have enough around them defensively to lead this team to glory.
