CAN KING JAMES AND CO. FUEL THE LAKERS’ DESIRE
TO KEEP THE TITLE BACK IN THIS NEW NORMAL
By Bert Mendez
Four months after the world changed, the Lakers are back at work in Florida’s mostly empty gyms. Almost nothing is familiar in these unprecedented circumstances, but King James’ determination to win a title — his fourth, Anthony Davis’ first and the Lakers’ 17th — still burns fiercely.
Lebron James and the Los Angeles Lakers were in rare form shortly before the coronavirus pandemic stopped the NBA season, and they’re determined to find it again inside the bubble.
The Lakers had just beaten the NBA-leading Milwaukee Bucks and the rival powerhouse Clippers in the previous week before the stoppage. James had played magnificently in both games, bolstering his MVP case and leading the Lakers into the stretch with ample reason to believe they could contend for a championship.
“Nothing is normal in 2020.” James said. “And who knows if it will ever go back to the way it was? But you make the adjustments and you figure it out along the way. That’s what life is all about.”
James had been dominant in nine games since the All-Star break, averaging 30.0 points, 9.4 assists and 8.2 rebounds. The NBA’s assists leader has been an outstanding facilitator of the Lakers’ offense ever since he arrived last season, and he will step back into that role when the Lakers go back to work starting on its reopening on Thursday, July 31 starting in a showdown with the Clippers.
Davis has remained one of the game’s best big men in his first season on the West Coast, averaging 26.4 points and 9.4 rebounds while blocking 2.4 shots per game and asserting his case as the best defensive player in the NBA.
The evident chemistry between Davis and James extends across the Lakers’ roster, which appears to have suffered none of the potential problems of being a recently assembled superteam. Coach Frank Vogel says his players have returned to work smoothly with a renewed focus partly made possible by the absence of normal life.
Starting guard Avery Bradley opted out of the NBA restart. The Lakers then lost veteran backup point guard Rajon Rondo for at least six weeks when he broke his right thumb during an early practice inside the bubble. Los Angeles added veteran J.R. Smith to fill Bradley’s roster spot, and the minutes of both absent players will be filled by a combination of new starter Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso, Smith and Dion Waiters, who signed with the Lakers before the break, but hadn’t played yet. Markieff Morris was a late arrival to the bubble, but he cleared quarantine and rejoined the Lakers on Thursday.\
The Lakers were surging toward the No. 1 overall seed in the West at 49-14 with a 5 1/2-game lead over the Clippers atop the conference and a game in hand. They also had easily the best in-conference record, going 33-7 against West opponents when everybody else had lost at least 13 conference games.#