The entire NBA is at a standstill due to the novel coronavirus, but that isn’t getting in the way of the Los Angeles Lakers’ championship aspirations.
According to a Thursday report, the Lakers are preparing for the playoffs as if the regular season is already over.
Frank Vogel said on a conference call that, although has no opinion on what the league should do when basketball resumes, he's given his staff assignments to study up on potential playoff opponents, as if the regular season is over.
— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) April 3, 2020
The decision to focus on potential playoff matchups seems to be a good one. At the moment, there is no indication when the NBA will start back up.
When it does, it is quite likely that the playoffs will begin immediately.
If the NBA does start back up by immediately entering the postseason, the Lakers would take on the Memphis Grizzlies, the current No. 8 seed, in the first round.
While it would be hard to miss out on quite a few regular season games that are yet to be played, any return of professional basketball would be welcome by fans all over the world.
Hopefully, the Lakers don’t have to prepare for too long before they actually get to retake the court once again.
For the time being, surely players and coaches all around the league are trying to stay as sharp as possible while also making sure that they are taking every precaution possible to stay healthy and safe.