thelesterlee
Biggest storyline of the season:
The Lakers are the oldest team in the NBA. I’m sure this is the first time you’re hearing this but it’s true. They are geriatric.
But the biggest storyline for the Lakers is dropping the atomic bomb that is Russell Westbrook. We can talk about his intensity and how hard he plays and blah blah but at the end of the day, he’s a terrible shooter and insists on shooting. His decision-making is JR Smith-esque but I suppose that’s LeBron’s comfort zone.
It’s Westbrook’s team this year. LeBron and AD are going to rest more often than not so Russ will be running the show. Is that good enough to lead these old heads to the Promised Land?
Key Players
LeBron James: I really hope you didn’t open up a Deadseriousness article and expect me to have something new to say about LeBron James. He’s very good at basketball.
Anthony Davis: This could be the season where AD finally steps up and marks his flag as the best big man in the NBA. Joker and Embiid were first and second in MVP voting last year. Karl-Anthony Towns has historic shooting numbers for his size. But Davis might push LeBron aside and prove he is THAT dude. Or he’ll have a strain in his pinky finger and miss two months. Truly a coin toss at this point.
Austin Reaves: As much as I’d love to make fun of the beloved white Bleacher Report savior, this clip tells you everything you need to know about his place on the Lakers.
Austin Reeves 3️⃣ > Russell Westbrook’s airballed 3️⃣#NBATwitter pic.twitter.com/p9KrayfHho
— 𝙏𝙖𝙡𝙠𝙞𝙣’ 𝙉𝘽𝘼 🗣️ (@_Talkin_NBA) October 13, 2021
Westbrook bricks a 3 and Reeves casually rebounds and takes it to the perimeter for a smooth easy 3 of his own.
Carmelo Anthony: If you hate the Lakers then at least Carmelo is on this roster to give ONE (1) reason to accept this team winning a championship. Unfortunately, there is a 0% chance he will be on the court if that happens, ya know, because he’s never been good at defense in his life and being 37-years old isn’t going to help him stay in front of Devin Booker.
Rajon Rondo: Like Melo, Rondo will mostly be watching this team from the bench come playoff time and surely the level-headed and reasonable Rajon we’ve known for all these years will handle that properly.
Talen Horton-Tucker: According to NBA Twitter, THT is the best player on the Lakers. He’d be the 12th man on the Orlando Magic.
Russell Westbrook: He will get triple-doubles. That’s me forcing myself to say something nice about Westbrook. He be rebounding.
How the Lakers can win the title:
Obviously, they need to stay healthy to win. We know this. I’ve been shitting on Westbrook but all he has to do is be as good as Rondo was in the Bubble when they beat the Miami Heat. Russ can do that.
The way the Lakers win the title is Anthony Davis being a grown-up and playing center. His insistence on being a power forward is going to force Dwight Howard and Deandre Jordan on the court and they are food. Either the Mavs and Clippers run them off the court with their small-ball lineups or Deandre Ayont and Nikola Jokic get them in nonstop foul trouble.
Anthony Davis could be the best player in the NBA but he wants to be cute. Deandre Jordan shouldn’t be playing a minute of postseason basketball. Only Anthony Davis can help prevent forest fires.
