Two days before the Los Angeles Lakers open their defense of their NBA title, team head coach Frank Vogel indicated that all of the team’s players took part in Sunday’s practice, a hopeful sign for the early going of the 2020-21 campaign.
Frank Vogel did say that every player was a full participant in practice today.
— Ryan Ward (@RyanWardLA) December 20, 2020
While the Lakers ended up winning the 2019-20 NBA championship, they did so just two months ago, making this offseason the shortest in league history.
Whether or not that quick turnaround becomes a factor for the Lakers’ overall health this season remains uncertain. Yet losing a player like LeBron James or Anthony Davis because of playing a compressed schedule is a prospect that the Lakers don’t want to ponder.
James turns 36 on Dec. 30 and has remained remarkably durable during his first 17 seasons in the NBA. Still, the Lakers fully remember how James played in a career-low 55 games during his first season with the Lakers during the 2018-19 campaign.
Vogel is no doubt keeping his fingers crossed as the season goes on, knowing that any key injuries put the idea of back-to-back titles in serious doubt.
