If you ask anyone outside of California what is the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Los Angeles, the immediate answer is Hollywood. Hollywood is the entertainment capital of the world and where movies are produced touching the minds and hearts of billions of people. In the heart of Hollywood, a fabric of the city is its love of the Los Angeles Lakers. In the 1980s Magic Johnson proved that the team paralleled its style of play in producing a showtime version of basketball. However, after winning the championship in the Orlando bubble, the team has missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons. However, the 2022-23 season so far has been a Hollywood fairytale. The season began in a catastrophic manner followed by a dramatic trade deadline line to an inconceivable surge up the standing. In this article, we break it all down and look ahead to what this team could achieve.
1. Catastrophic Start-On November 11, 2022, the Los Angeles Lakers 2-10 after losing 120-114 to the Sacramento Kings at home in the crypto.com Arena. It was a disastrous point in the season because the team was already looking to be out of the playoff race. In fact, the team made history of the worst kind in tying its worst start with the 1957-58, and the 2015-16 seasons. It was not good company to be in because none of those clubs won more than 20 games. The team couldn’t afford to tank for the hopes of Victor Wembanyama because their pick is controlled by the New Orleans Pelicans. The Lakers superstar trio of Lebron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook lacked chemistry and the latter had to start coming off the bench. Eventually, the team began to pick up some victories, but it always felt like one step forward and two steps back.
2. Lebron Scoring King and Trade Deadline- on February 7, 2023, a tipping point in the season was the night Lebron passed Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for most career points of 38,387. The night should have been euphoric for James, the fans and for teammates. Instead, the team put in a subpar performance in a 133-130 loss. Anthony Davis looked dejected from the bench as Lebron passed the mark and Westbrook appeared to be upstaging his own teammate at times with his antics and attitude before and after the game. The Lakers were meandering at 25-30, badly needed a makeover and Rob Pelinka understood the assignment. Pelinka went to work by trading Russell Westbrook to Utah and reacquiring guard D’Angelo Russell from the Minnesota Timberwolves in a three-team. Los Angeles also received guard Malik Beasley and forward Jarred Vanderbilt from the Jazz while sending out Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones and their first-round pick in 2027 to Utah with Westbrook. In another surprise move, the team shipped out Patrick Beverley to the Magic for Mo Bamba. In making those moves, the Lakers improved its roster by adding better scoring D’Angelo, better defense from Vanderbilt and better team players with less strong-willed personalities.
3. Resurgence and Playoffs- in the aftermath of the trades, the Lakers have been 16-8 in their past 24 games and have moved from the 13th to the 6 seed in a matter of six weeks. The record could have been better because Lebron missed 13 games during that time span. The team’s resurgence has astounding because they are known for playing tough and gritty defense which should please first year coach Darvin Ham. The team has also been led by the reemergence of Davis as a top five player in the league and timely contributions from role players like Austin Reaves and Dennis Schroeder. All of sudden the Lakers are viewed as the one of the most dangerous teams in the league that no one will want to face in the playoffs. It will be important to retain its sixth seed position and avoid the play-in tournament so they can rest. However, they could have the right matchup in facing a young Kings team that has little to no postseason experience. Moreover, in a wide-open Western Conference the fairytale could continue to an improbable championship and in the word of Kevin Garnett “anything is possible.”