The Los Angeles Lakers acquired point guard Russell Westbrook in the summer of 2021 in hopes that he would be able to help the team return to title contention.
Of course, that didn’t happen last season as Westbrook and the Lakers endured a rough campaign and missed out on the postseason altogether.
Naturally, many people thought a Big 3 of Westbrook, LeBron James and Anthony Davis would make the Lakers the team to beat in the Western Conference. The team apparently thought that it could recreate the Miami Heat’s iconic Big 3, which consisted of James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.
“It also kind of plays into the narrative, for better or worse, that Rob Pelinka loves him some stars,” said ESPN’s Jorge Sedano during a recent podcast appearance. “And the Lakers love them some stars. And Russ is a star, and they felt they had a Big 3. So much so that I heard from a bunch of different people in different camps that they were like, ‘Oh, we’re gonna recreate the Big 3 in Miami.’”
It makes sense that the Lakers wanted their Big 3 to be like Miami’s. After all, the Heat won two titles and went to four straight NBA Finals series with James, Wade and Bosh on the roster.
The Lakers didn’t come anywhere close to the NBA Finals last season, and they are currently in 12th place in the Western Conference this season with a record of 17-21.
Moving Westbrook to the bench has helped things a bit as he continues to get more comfortable in a reserve role, but there are still some issues that are hampering the team.
Davis and James have been in and out of the lineup this season, and that has made it hard for the Lakers to be consistent. However, they are currently on a three-game winning streak and pulled off an improbable win over the Heat on Wednesday behind the heroics of guard Dennis Schroder.
L.A. is surely hoping that it will be able to get Davis back as soon as possible. NBA insider Adrian Wojnarowski recently offered a positive update regarding the big man.
Woj: "The progress with Anthony Davis I'm told continues to be encouraging. Continues to be relatively pain free. He's started to do some running on the court. The next step I'm told for AD is jumping and then see how the foot feels then."#LakeShow pic.twitter.com/m8Ggb86136
— 𝐓𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧' 𝐍𝐁𝐀 (@_Talkin_NBA) January 4, 2023
The 29-year-old big man has missed the team’s last 10 games as he recovers from a foot injury he suffered against the Denver Nuggets in December. He had been averaging 27.4 points, 12.1 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.1 blocks per game before the injury.
Los Angles will look to keep things rolling on Friday night against the Atlanta Hawks.
