American rapper, songwriter, actor and filmmaker Ice Cube has high expectations for the Los Angeles Lakers in the 2023-24 season.
The rapper revealed on ESPN’s “First Take” that he expects the Lakers to win the NBA Finals this coming season.
After making the Western Conference Finals in the 2022-23 campaign, the Lakers are certainly hungry to get back to the top of the Western Conference in the 2023-24 season.
Los Angeles finished with the No. 7 seed in the West last season after getting off to a slow start, but it turned things up a notch in the postseason. The Lakers earned the No. 7 spot through the league’s play-in tournament, and then they went on to win two playoff series.
First, they upset the No. 2-seeded Memphis Grizzlies in six games before knocking off the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the second round.
While Los Angeles was swept in the Western Conference Finals by the eventual NBA champions (the Denver Nuggets), it still had a successful postseason run.
The 2023-24 season is a crucial one for the Lakers, as it is the final season on LeBron James’ contract. The four-time champion has a player option for the 2024-25 season, which means he could opt out after this season and become a free agent.
Ice Cube could be factoring that into his expectations, as the team would love to win a title to potentially help convince James to stay in Los Angeles.
The Lakers made some key acquisitions this offseason by adding guard Gabe Vincent, forwards Taurean Prince and Cam Reddish and big man Jaxson Hayes. The team also brought back D’Angelo Russell, Rui Hachimura and Austin Reaves from last season’s team.
With all of these pieces around James and Anthony Davis, the Lakers are as equipped as any team in the West to win a title.
The key may be health for this team, as James and Davis have dealt with injuries in previous seasons, but if they do stay healthy, the Lakers are going to be a tough team to beat – as they showed in the playoffs in the 2022-23 season.
Hopefully, Ice Cube’s expectation will motivate the Lakers to new heights in the 2023-24 season.
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