Los Angeles Lakers are the favorite to win this year, but there are many reasons why they will not be able to. These include LeBron James playing on a team that is more focused on development than winning as well as injuries at key positions in an already thin roster.
The “los angeles lakers” are not a championship team. They have LeBron James, who is not playing on a championship team. Without him, they will not win the title this year.
This season, the Los Angeles Lakers have been the league’s most disappointing club. After all, with so much superstar potential on the roster, a 16–15 record after 31 games is just not good enough. Despite his age, LeBron James is still a fantastic player, and he still has Anthony Davis by his side. This combination dominated the NBA during the 2020 “Covid” season en way to an NBA championship, therefore they have on-court chemistry and postseason experience.
Not to mention the addition of some huge names like Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan, and other talented role players to the Los Angeles Lakers. The Lakers still have pieces of the 2020 championship core intact, thanks to head coach Frank Vogel’s return and Talen Horton-continued Tucker’s development. Despite this, the Lakers have been poor at best and consistently struggle against excellent teams on a regular basis. Sure, they can beat up on lesser-talented teams on any given day of the week, but they run into problems when their skill alone isn’t enough to win games.
Based on the Lakers’ performance so far this season and the league’s present environment, Los Angeles does not have enough to win a championship this season. There are just too many things working against the Lakers, and the squad as it now stands will not be able to overcome them. Despite now having the 7th seed in the NBA playoffs, here are five reasons why the Lakers will not win the title this season.
5. LeBron James is old, but his teammates are as well.
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At almost 37 years old, LeBron James is achieving incredible things, and he deserves a lot of credit for it. The King is averaging 25.9 points per possession, 6.6 rebounds per possession, and 6.8 assists per possession while shooting 50.1 percent from the field. These are incredible stats for a guy who has dealt with so much pressure throughout his career, whether on or off the court. But, if he hasn’t already, reaching 37 is a hint that James will begin to exhibit gaps in his game. Father Time will always be undefeated, thus LeBron needs more aid now than he has ever needed in his career.
The Lakers don’t have a continuous “bailout” option like they had in prior seasons with an older LeBron James on the team. Rather, the club must sometimes bail out LeBron because it is only just given what The King has gone through over his great career. Even if James is the team’s finest all-around player, he won’t be able to perform at the level of Anthony Davis or Russell Westbrook every night. Unfortunately for LeBron, his supporting cast is also in their senior years.
Carmelo Anthony is 37 and almost 38 years old, Dwight Howard is 36, DeAndre Jordan is 33, and Russell Westbrook is 33. Simply said, the Lakers can’t depend on any of their rotation players since they’re beyond their peak. Wayne Ellington (34), Trevor Ariza (36), and Kent Bazemore (32) are among the players who are not getting any younger. It’s not the ideal method to build a championship team with an older LeBron and an older supporting cast.
4. In the Western Conference, Los Angeles will not be able to secure a top-three seed.
The Lakers are clinging to postseason seeding with the 7th seed in the Western Conference. With about half of the season completed, we have enough evidence to determine that the Purple and Gold will not be able to secure one of the conference’s top three seeds. To be honest, the Lakers would not be a playoff team if it weren’t for LeBron James’ glimpses of brilliance during the season. They lack consistency on both sides of the floor and must depend on huge performances from LeBron, Davis, or Westbrook to bail them out of a bind.
All three of those talents have struggled at times (more on that later), and head coach Frank Vogel is under fire for failing to guide this club to one of the top seeds in the West. The Lakers are not talented enough to earn a top-3 seed, which means they will have no edge in the playoffs because of the drama on and off the court. Los Angeles, in particular, seems to be a play-in team, which just adds to their woes.
The Lakers will be harmed if they do not make the playoffs right away, since they will have to play more games at the conclusion of the regular season to win postseason seeding. This is bad news for an aging squad constructed around a soon-to-be 37-year-old LeBron James. Los Angeles will instead battle every game to improve their playoff placement, which means exhaustion and a lack of home-court advantage might spell the end of their championship run. If playoff seeding does not end the Lakers’ season, there are a few other circumstances that would.
3. There is too much competition in the league.
The New York Post is a newspaper based in New York
The league is currently seeing intense competition, with numerous clubs contending for the title in each conference. All of the NBA’s greatest teams have showed enough consistency on the court over the course of 28 games and currently have a good pool of talent. The Milwaukee Bucks, the current NBA champions, are loaded with talent, led by two-time MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is just 26 years old. With his stature and all-around ability, the Greek Freak is unstoppable, and he has plenty of support.
Khris Middleton is Giannis’ ideal sidekick since he shoots the three well (39.3 percent in his career) and defends above-average. Middleton is also a clutch player, as he demonstrated several times during last season’s playoff run. Jrue Holiday is an above-average two-way player who completes Milwaukee’s powerful Big Three. With the Brooklyn Nets, the Bucks are also vying for the title of top team in the East. Kevin Durant, the greatest player in the world, is a member of the Brooklyn Nets. The Nets will be in the Eastern Conference Finals once James Harden returns to MVP form and Kyrie Irving (maybe) returns to the floor.
Even the Miami Heat, who have a top-10 player in Jimmy Butler and a strong supporting cast that includes Bam Adebayo and Tyler Herro, are a stronger team than the Lakers. Miami is a dark horse for the NBA Finals, like they were in 2020, with a championship-level head coach in Erik Spoelstra. The Chicago Bulls have two MVP candidates and a slew of tough-guy ex-Lakers (Lonzo Ball and Alex Caruso) who feel they can beat the Lakers in any series. These four Eastern Conference teams are all better than the Lakers and will face them in a seven-game series in Los Angeles.
The situation is the same in the West. The Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors are battling for the Western Conference’s top spot, and are undoubtedly the league’s two finest teams. Last season, the Suns reached the NBA Finals, and their nucleus of Chris Paul and Devin Booker is back at full health. Even if Anthony Davis is totally healthy, the Lakers will not be able to defeat the Suns. Similarly, with Klay Thompson on the field, the Warriors will be a force to be reckoned with, outplaying the Lakers on both sides of the game. The Jazz may lack superstars, but no one can argue that they play superior defense than the Lakers.
With this level of competitiveness in the league, the Lakers will not be able to secure a top-3 seed in the West, nor will they be able to beat any of the teams indicated above in the Western Conference Finals or Finals.
2. Russell Westbrook’s Experiment Was A Failure
Rolling Screen and Silver Screen
Russell Westbrook’s image as an individual great who has little effect on team success has taken a hit this season. Through 31 games, the former MVP is averaging 19.5 points per game, 7.7 rebounds per game, and 8.3 assists per game, but he’s only shooting 31.4 percent from three and 65.9 percent from the free-throw line. The Westbrook experiment with the Lakers has been a catastrophe since he is an erratic shooter who does not fit in with James and Davis. While his numbers aren’t horrible on paper, the fact that the Lakers chose Westbrook over other players like DeMar DeRozan or Buddy Hield makes matters worse.
Westbrook is unpredictable, and he will always play the game the way he wants to. Because he is growing older and gambling too much, he provides little to no defense. Los Angeles suffered a significant blow on defense as a result of bringing in Westbrook and losing Alex Caruso, an area where the club has struggled this season. Despite the fact that Westbrook is a former MVP and one of the greatest 75 players in NBA history, he was never the ideal fit for the Lakers. The Lakers have set themselves up for failure by assembling a team around three superstars who don’t mesh well together.
1. Anthony Davis is a perpetually injured player.
The Times of Los Angeles
Despite a slew of circumstances working against the Lakers on the court, Anthony Davis’ inability to stay healthy is the most significant reason the Lakers will not win the NBA championship. Davis has averaging 23.3 points per game, 9.9 rebounds per game, 2.9 assists per game, 1.2 steals per game, and 2.0 blocks per game for the Lakers this season. His stats are great, as they always are, but his effect has been lacking. It’s possible that the big man is afraid of getting harmed again after his injury ended the Lakers’ championship hopes last season. With an MCL injury, AD is sidelined for at least four weeks once again.
The Lakers haven’t found success on the floor because Davis is concerned about his health and isn’t dominating the court as the league’s greatest big man. However, without Davis in the lineup, the Lakers would likely struggle to reach the playoffs. The big man is at the heart of everything the Lakers do on the court, and LeBron James has put his confidence in Davis to be the team’s main scorer, rebounder, and defender. With Davis out, a shaky Russell Westbrook and an aging LeBron James will be insufficient. Heavy competition and the problem of youth are two of the five key reasons why the Lakers will not win the 2022 championship, but Anthony Davis’ inability to play at an elite level while healthy is the greatest worry.
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