The Los Angeles Lakers reportedly still believe that they can threaten all Western Conference contenders this postseason if LeBron James and Anthony Davis are healthy.
According to Bleacher Report’s Jake Fischer, there are rival teams that also feel the same way about the Lakers’ potential despite their struggles in the 2021-22 season.
“The Lakers still hold championship aspirations this season,” Fischer wrote. “Los Angeles personnel maintain that if they can reach the playoffs, the healthy combination of LeBron James and Anthony Davis is still enough to threaten all comers for the Western Conference crown. Some rival teams have echoed that sentiment as well.”
While there may be optimism in the Lakers organization, the team still has two huge question marks that need to be solved for this to come true.
James has been dealing with a nagging knee injury as of late, and Davis is currently sidelined due to a foot injury. If one or both of the Lakers’ stars is out, the team has shown that it will struggle to compete.
This season, the Lakers are 6-11 in the 17 games that James has missed. The team is nearly as bad when Davis is out of the lineup, compiling a 10-14 record in the 24 games that he has failed to suit up in.
Overall, the Lakers are just 27-34 in the 2021-22 campaign after losing to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night. Los Angeles has now lost three straight games and is just 3-7 in its last 10 contests.
While the Lakers have the star power to compete with anyone, they are staring down a date in the league’s play-in tournament to even make the playoff field this season. Los Angeles currently holds the No. 9 spot in the Western Conference.
The Lakers could always make a run with James and Davis leading the way, but one has to wonder if the Lakers have already dug themselves too big of a hole to climb out of at this point in the season.
They will look to get back in the win column on Thursday against the Los Angeles Clippers.
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