The Los Angeles Lakers are gaining momentum each day as LeBron James is now on track to join them soon for his season debut.
As it is, the superstar forward recently entered LA’s G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers, for the final rehabbing stage of his sciatica injury that kept him out for over a month.
For Brian Windhorst, a healthy and rejuvenated James gives the Lakers a major shot in the arm in competing and beating every group in the NBA.
But not against a team named the Oklahoma City Thunder.
“When you’ve got LeBron, Reeves, and Luka all healthy and playing well, I think the Lakers can beat anybody. The question is whether they can do it four out of seven [games], especially with where the Thunder are right now,” the NBA expert said in his recent appearance on ESPN Los Angeles’ The Sedano & Kap Morning Show.
“Probably not. But I don’t know if the Thunder will still be in that same place in the spring. Basketball is fragile, but they’re so resilient.”
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Last Wednesday, the Lakers absorbed a huge eye-opener in facing the league’s best team. Playing against the reigning champs, LA got steamrolled by OKC, 121–92, in a wire-to-wire finish.
James playing could have changed plenty of things for the Lakers. But the fact that the Thunder didn’t even have their two other core players in Jalen Williams and Lu Dort, it just shows how wide the distance has been between both teams.
Still, Windhorst didn’t downplay the importance of James’ presence for the Lakers in general. As he claimed, the Lakers are overperforming despite a bottom-10 standing statistically, and having LeBron in the lineup would be tremendous.
Despite James’ extended absence, the Lakers have withstood challenges and are currently the No. 5 team in the West (8–4), largely because of Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves’ leadership.
“They need to reach that ceiling. What I’d say about the Lakers is that you should be excited, because they’re hovering around the top four while performing like a bottom-10 team,” Windhorst stated. “Once they get LeBron back, that ceiling can rise. That’s what I’m watching for.
“But if your standard is the Thunder, you’re going to have a tough time.”
Right now, the Lakers’ priority needs to revolve around how they’ll integrate James back into the mix. Dealing with the might of the Thunder has to be set aside for now as they have to gradually learn and play their full system first, with their top player set for a highly anticipated return.
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