LeBron James realizes that the injuries have kept the Lakers apart from the league’s elite teams because of this huge embarrassment to the Lakers.
The Lakers’ season has started mediocrely, as seen by their 16-15 record.
All three of these players—Rui Hachimura, Gabe Vincent, and Jarred Vanderbilt—have missed a lot of time on the field; Vincent, in particular, is expected to miss even more time due to an upcoming operation.
In light of this, LeBron James talked about how the Lakers’ superior health sets them apart from other elite NBA teams following their Christmas Day loss to the Boston Celtics.
“I believe that the teams that are best in the league right now are Minnesota, who are very healthy, OKC, who have healthy players other than Josh Giddey, and Boston, who appear to be entirely healthy,” James stated. “At this point, I do not believe we are healthy. We are not where we should be to compete with the best teams, in my opinion.We are still attempting to assess our circumstances and determine how we want to approach each game going forward. However, we will recover.”
James appears to be walking the delicate line between explaining away defeats and offering justifications at the moment. While key players have been sidelined, James and Anthony Davis have also been in reasonably good health. Why has not this team’s depth—which was seen as highly strong at the beginning of the season—helped them in these situations where players have vanished?
It is possible that the depth was exaggerated or that these three players’ worth was underestimated. Regardless, these remarks will soon be forgotten if Hachimura and Vanderbilt return, assuming no more injuries.
The Lakers are not far from the top even if they have not had a great start. We still have more games ahead of us than behind, and they are still 2.5 games off of a top-four berth.
Your record defines you, and at this point, it indicates that the Lakers still have work to do.
If James is right, almost everyone should be accessible in January, so wins should pile up. To get into the elite teams in the West, the Lakers will need to make a move if they are to keep struggling.
