LOS ANGELES • The National Basketball Association (NBA) will take another step towards normalcy with the launch of its 2020-21 season that has installed the Los Angeles Lakers, bolstered by a flurry of off-season moves, as favourites to repeat as champions.
After the league held the final three months of last season at Disney World in a bio-secure bubble to ward off Covid-19, teams will resume road games when the regular season tips off tomorrow.
The Lakers remain the team to beat. Since winning a record-tying 17th championship in October, they have acquired some of the best available players in the off-season, giving their core duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis a much changed – but according to the critics, better supporting cast.
The acquisition of reigning Sixth Man of the Year Montrezl Harrell, runner-up Dennis Schroder along with veterans Marc Gasol, 35, and Wesley Matthews, 34, should help ease some of the burden carried by Finals Most Valuable Player (MVP) James.
Out went Danny Green, Dwight Howard, JaVale McGee and Rajon Rondo but All-Star forward Davis has been buoyed by what he has seen in pre-season, claiming the team are “doing things that we’re not really supposed to be doing this early”.
“We feel good, we feel very good,” he told the Orange County Register (OCR). “The things we’re able to do on the defensive end so quickly with our new guys, it involves a lot of trust, it involves a lot of the new guys caring about playing defence, and it’s about our schemes.”
Last season, guard Schroder and forward Harrell finished first and second in the league respectively in points scored off the bench. Their presence – shooting 47.1 per cent and 58.1 per cent respectively from the field – means they can take the scoring load off James and Davis. It will also allow Lakers coach Frank Vogel to employ “load management”, giving his star pairing the opportunity to rest in what is a tough, condensed schedule.
Harrell in particular is a major upgrade on Howard and McGee, whom the Lakers alternated between at centre position last term.
Only three men – MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo, Zion Williamson and Russell Westbrook – scored more points in the paint than the former Los Angeles Clippers big man, who managed 14.8 points last term. With an average of 52.8 points, the Lakers were already the second-highest scorers in the paint last season and Harrell is set to make them an even more daunting team to defend against.
To repeat as champions takes dominance but with even better teammates, James is confident of winning his fifth title and strengthening his case as the greatest of all time.
“Playing this game, you want to be remembered,” the All-Star forward told OCR. “You want to be legendary… perhaps as one of the greatest teams, or the greatest players, whatever the case may be. The best way to do that is to win, and to win at the highest level.”
REUTERS