“We have three future hall of famers” Mark Jackson asserts the LA Lakers are still a champion team: LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers did not have a financially successful season. After winning the championship just two years prior, they were only able to win 33 games and were eliminated from postseason contention.
It’s no secret that LeBron James wants to win it all, and that’s why the Los Angeles Lakers need to improve their roster before the start of the new season this summer.
They have been connected to the acquisition of a number of high-profile players, such as Kyrie Irving, but they have not yet made any significant moves in this regard.
Even with their current roster, the former NBA head coach Mark Jackson thinks the Los Angeles Lakers have a shot at winning the championship the next season. When asked what the Lakers’ potential for the upcoming season’s ceiling is, he responded as follows:
“HEALTHY, THEY CAN WIN A CHAMPIONSHIP,” JACKSON MENTIONED. “AS LONG AS THEY KEEP THEIR HEALTH AND CONTINUE TO PLAY AT A HIGH LEVEL ON THE DEFENSIVE END, NIGHT AFTER NIGHT.”
The Los Angeles Lakers need to improve their defensive play:
The Los Angeles Lakers finished the previous season ranked third-worst in the league in terms of defensive efficiency. They allowed their opponents to average 115.1 points per game, which was more than 10 points lower than the team that was in first place in the league.
The Lakers will need to make significant strides in this area of their game in order to compete well in the upcoming season. New head coach Darvin Ham indicated that he was going to work on improving the team’s defensive coverage.
Mark Jackson made it clear that the Lakers can’t only count on LeBron James, Russell Westbrook, and Anthony Davis to outscore their competition and win games.
“SINCE WE HAVE THREE PLAYERS WHO WILL ONE DAY BE IN THE HALL OF FAME, WE ARE GOING TO OUTSCORE EVERYBODY AND WIN.” Jackson pointed out that this scenario does not actually play out like that. “IT IS IMPERATIVE THAT THEY FORM THE CORRECT HABITS, WHICH IS SOMETHING THAT THEY DID NOT DO LAST YEAR, AND THAT THEY RESUME DEFENDING AND GET HEALTHY. THEY MUST KEEP THEIR HEALTH, AND ONCE THEY DO, THEY WILL HAVE A CHANCE AGAINST ANYONE.”
In the previous season, they tried to play by those rules, but they were unsuccessful. The Lakers ended up having one of the worst seasons in the history of the franchise, so clearly, something needs to be different going forward.
The previous season, the Lakers did not have any players that participated in each of their 82 games. Westbrook had the most appearances on the squad with 78, followed by Malik Monk with 76 and then Carmelo Anthony with 69. Malik Monk led the team in assists with 76. There was not a single contestant who achieved a score higher than 62.
James and Davis
It was just unacceptable that their two best players, James and Davis, were absent for a combined total of 68 games throughout the season.
Concerningly, James has been absent from 84 games for the Lakers over the course of the past four seasons. This boils down to an average of 21 games missed every season, which is quite a high number for a player who has won the NBA title four times.
Prior to joining the Lakers, James had missed 71 games over the course of 15 years, which averages out to fewer than 5 games per season.
If the Los Angeles Lakers want to be competitive in the upcoming season, they will need to protect their health at all costs. It’s possible that the East won’t be as easy to beat as the West, but the West still has a lot of great teams to compete against.