Despite a hot start to the season, the Los Angeles Lakers hit a snag midway through, which severely hurt their standing in the eyes of all basketball fans, including the media. But, over the last month, they have been firing on all cylinders, as they reclaim their spot as a top-3 team in the Western Conference.
A new role for LeBron James, combined with Luka Dončić being on an unprecedented tear, has led the team to win 12 of their last 14. However, veteran NBA player-turned-analyst Chandler Parsons doesn’t believe the team is getting its due credit yet.
The Los Angeles Lakers Have Arrived
Right after the All-Star break, the Lakers were struggling in a major way, as they seemed to be in free fall to the 6-seed, or even falling into the Play-In with a loss to the Phoenix Suns. But right after that game, things seemed to have finally clicked into place for them.
Since then, they’ve gone on this run and established themselves as the 3-seed in the West, ahead of teams like the Denver Nuggets, Houston Rockets, and Minnesota Timberwolves. And with a comfortable lead with less than a month left in the season, they should be able to keep their spot.
The charge has been led by Dončić, who has averaged over 40 points per game over the last 10 games, while getting perfect complementary play from James and Austin Reaves. Add in a fiesty defender like Marcus Smart and a DeAndre Ayton who finally seems to have bought in, and the recipe for success in LA is rather transparent.
They’ve become a top-three unit offensively, while hovering around the top-10 range on the less glamorous side of the ball. But for Parsons, who spent nearly a decade in the NBA before a premature retirement, the team hasn’t yet gotten the respect it deserves.
“This Lakers team is exceeding expectations,” he voiced his observations on the “Run It Back” show on FanDuel. “The Western Conference is loaded and I think there’s no way we thought they would be in this position at the beginning of the season.”
Even though he conceded, “We knew they’d be good, we knew they’d be talented and win a lot of games. But the fact that they’ve gone on this big of a roll right now, the heater. And they’re better than the Timberwolves, and the Rockets, and the Nuggets. This team is very, very impressive. They don’t get the credit that they deserve.”
It remains to be seen just how far LA can keep this momentum going. The ultimate goal, especially with a 41-year-old James in the final stages of his career, has to be a championship.
While their exploits in the regular season have become undeniable, it remains to be seen if they can continue this in the postseason as well.
