The Los Angeles Lakers are only a few weeks removed from winning the franchise’s 17th NBA title, and it appears the team won’t have much time to recoup and get back to work on the basketball floor.
The rumored start date is Dec. 22, and that has gained a lot of momentum lately, with the league ready to approve that date. Lakers forward Jared Dudley recently admitted that he believes that starting the season before Christmas Day will happen.
"We'll most likely be on [December] 22nd"
Lakers Free Agent Forward @JaredDudley619 tells @TheFrankIsola that he expects the season to begin before Christmas. pic.twitter.com/szn3lcYSqO
— SiriusXM NBA Radio (@SiriusXMNBA) November 4, 2020
“We’ll most likely be on the 22nd,” Dudley said. “For the Lakers, it’s a quick turnaround, but a good thing.
“Everyone besides me and LeBron [James] are young, relatively young. A.D. (Anthony Davis) and [Kyle] Kuzma and guys. Hopefully, we’re there ring night. Obviously, Christmas, Lakers and how big our fan base is they want to see the Lakers at that time, but it is something we are really going to have to watch the whole team’s bodies and injury prevention.
“It’s a marathon and we’ve got to be smart about that early on especially.”
The proposed Dec. 22 start date for the 2020-21 NBA season hasn’t been very popular with players like LeBron James. The Lakers superstar joked that he’d be cherry-picking during games for the first half of the season if it started in December.
Obviously, James was joking, but it remains to be seen how players and teams will react when or if this early start date is approved.
