With, arguably, the best roster in the West, the L.A. Lakers are viewed as the favorites to win their Conference.
But after an 0-6 start in the preseason, people are wondering if this team is really as good as they appear. LeBron James is 36, Anthony Davis’ health is unreliable, and we have yet to see if Russell Westbrook is a good fit on this team. Really, there are a lot of reasons to question what’s going on in L.A.
For Warriors coach Steve Kerr, however, the perception is different. In a chat on the “Warriors’ Multiverse” podcast, he spoke about L.A. ahead of the new season and expressed confidence that their preseason performance was a fluke.
“I suspect they’ve (Lakers) been playing possum a little bit in the preseason. They’ve been around long enough to know that preseason games don’t mean a thing. So we’re expecting their best effort tomorrow.”
Downplaying the preseason is a pretty common practice for experienced players and coaches. In fact, LeBron James said openly that he doesn’t really care about it.
“Preseason is…I care more about the practice court than I care about the preseason games,” James said. “You get out there, you play rotations, they’re trying to figure it out and things of that nature, so there’s so much that you can get out of a preseason game, for me, individually. But, I love our practices, I love to see what are we doing and continue to work behind closed doors. So I don’t know, I don’t really put too much in the preseason, to be honest.”
The Bucks and Suns went winless last year, and both ended up making the Finals.
So, long story short, we shouldn’t take much stock into what transpired over the past few weeks. With opening tip-off just hours away, we’ll get the chance to see what these teams look like when it matters.
