The in-season tournament could represent the last chance to watch LeBron James play for a meaningful prize, writes John Hollinger of The Athletic. James’ Lakers will host the Suns on Tuesday with a spot in the semifinals at stake. A victory would match them against Sacramento or New Orleans for a berth in the finals, giving one of the league’s most successful franchises an opportunity to add the first-ever NBA Cup to its long list of accomplishments.
While James continues to play at a remarkable level for his age, Hollinger points out that he will turn 39 later this month and can no longer carry a team the way he used to in his prime. He notes that even though L.A. is 12-9, the team was embarrassed in games at Philadelphia and Oklahoma City last week and may not have the roster for another long playoff run.
If that’s true, Hollinger recommends that fans should savor this week’s opportunity to watch James in the spotlight. The Lakers appear to have favorable tournament matchups — they’ll host a Phoenix team that they’ve beaten twice already and then would advance to Las Vegas, where the arena would be packed with L.A. fans. Hollinger adds that the potential of James playing in the in-season tournament final would bring even more prestige to what has turned out to be a successful experiment.
There’s more on the Lakers:
- Jarred Vanderbilt didn’t score in his first game of the season Saturday, but he said it felt good to be back on the court after being sidelined for nearly two months with bursitis in his left heel, per Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Vanderbilt managed to play nearly 14 minutes, grabbing four rebounds and providing his usual active presence on defense. “Basically just trying to take care of the injury and then building it back up efficiently and smart,” Vanderbilt said of his recovery process. “I didn’t want to get back out there too fast. So that was part of the ramp-up, kind of slowly going through progressions: two versus two, three versus three and then some five-on-five. That’s pretty much it.”
- Coach Darvin Ham considers Cam Reddish a “laid-back dude,” but he showed another side of his personality during a confrontation with Houston’s Tari Eason on Saturday that resulted in a technical foul, Turner states in the same piece. The players were separated before their verbal battle could escalate. “He has a toughness to him, a quiet toughness,” Ham said of Reddish. “I like him being aggressive and assertive. He showed that tonight. Some of the plays he made, that steal he got and kept alive and getting an and-one. I want him passionate about the game.”
- Rui Hachimura was medically cleared to play Saturday, but Ham opted to give him more time to recover from last week’s nasal surgery, Turner adds. “He went through his pre-game workout and still was a little iffy,” Ham said. “… So, just coming off that nose surgery, we felt it was best just to be proactive, to be precautionary, so that’s where we landed.”
Yes, because getting beaten by unquestionable home seed playoff teams, each of which has a top 5 MVP candidate as their core piece with deep rosters, when *half your rotation is injured* is clearly a sign of the apocalypse for a team. Hollinger is a decent journalist, but sometimes he *clearly* shows just how little he understands basketball.
Like yes, those losses were bad, and nobody would dispute that there were obvious problem signs, but the Lakers have been solid and adaptable for every other game they’ve played this year despite injuries depleting them until literally their most recent game. As close as the West is this year, pretty much anything could happen, and the Lakers are in a better position than most. Seeds 4-7 have basically the same record at this point.
I hear Hollingers sentiments
Lakers have zero quality wins so far , best Win was Orl at home by 3 and that’s with Banchero playing his worst game of the year
I don’t see the injs a huge deal as well , they got whatever Vando woulda provided from Cam, Vincent’s still an unknown and far from a boon
Maybe it’s just a bad 1st qrter , they certainly know that all too well – I have doubts on Hams rotations, think Rui is the key but Ham hasn’t had his back at all since coming over.
Woods head looks 75% out the door which is troubling bc Jaxson Hayes is horrible- They need a b/u 5 for 10 mins a game that probably isn’t on this roster currently
Playoffs in the west will all be about have a healthy team. Any top team loses their best players are probably out of the playoffs.
Cam showing “toughness” for bumping a guy about to take a FT then walking away & staying silent, hiding behind Prince and AD while Eason is getting more aggressive. No separation just holding back of Eason there.(with a little drama between Udoka and LeBron sprinkled in on the sideline)
Firstly, I do think Tari deserved a tech for his reaction(and his reaction post game). But that was pettiness from Cam not toughness. The real story was the Ime/lebron altercation.