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In yesterday’s episode of the Locked on Lakers podcast, Matt Moore of The Action Network stopped by and we raised our questions about the Los Angeles Lakers. Today’s episode was about some of the answers — or at the very least, some of the answers we might have right now.
As frustrating as intangible analysis might be, that’s where we start. Over the franchise’s history, the Lakers have shown an ability to make it work when they have great players on the roster.
With Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, they made it work despite playing in an era with the dynastic Boston Celtics to the tune of five titles.
When they signed Shaquille O’Neal and drafted Kobe Bryant, they made it work despite playing in the same era as Tim Duncan and one of the most stable organizations in the history of the NBA, to the tune of three titles.
When Shaq departed and an incredible Kobe was left in his wake, they made it work despite a disappointing return for O’Neal, Duncan’s continued dominance and a budding uber-duper-superstar in LeBron James making his presence known to the tune of back-to-back championships. Shouts to Pau Gasol. I miss you, Pau.
All that success was under different ownership, kind of, and different front offices, so that’s worth pointing out. But at the end of the day, it’s fair to trust the Lakers to figure stuff out. They’ve done it before to great success, so hoping they can do so well enough to make the playoffs doesn’t at all seem out of the question.
This roster has some very daunting questions though. Praying to the lord above every time JaVale McGee falls down in 2018 is indicative of the sad state that the center rotation currently is in. But that’s fixable, and given what I’ve seen over the course of my time watching this organization, I believe they can figure it out.
As always, this is just a tidbit of the full context given in the show. Listen to the full discussion below and please check out old episodes, or guarantee you won’t miss any ever again by subscribing on iTunes.