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Next month, 22 NBA teams will head to Walt Disney World in Orlando with the hope of being crowned the league’s champion for the 2019-20 season, and for the first time in seven years, the Los Angeles Lakers will have a real shot.
Before the season was suspended, the Lakers were playing like the best team in the NBA, beating the Milwaukee Bucks and LA Clippers in back-to-back games while holding both teams well under their season average. During that two-game stretch, LeBron James looked like the best player in the NBA, averaging 32.5 points, 8 rebounds, 8.5 assists, 1.5 steals and a block per game.
However, that was in March — it’s now June. Fortunately, the Lakers have been resilient enough for fans to be optimistic that they’ll pick up where they left off, and the leader to make sure they do.
According to a report from Broderick Turner of the Los Angeles Times, James has been a squeaky wheel in the Lakers’ group chat, telling that to get ready for whatever’s next:
From keeping it lighthearted to being serious, James has been at the forefront during the Lakers’ group chats about staying “mentally and physically prepared” as they approach heading to Orlando, according to people familiar with the situation but not authorized to speak publicly.
James has done more than just talk, though. In April, before the Lakers’ reopened their practice facility, Danny Green told Chris McGee of Spectrum SportsNet that James and Anthony Davis checked in on their teammates to make sure they had had a gym to workout in.
There’s obviously still work to be done before they can return to the form they were in before the season was suspended, but James has done everything he can to put his teammates in the position to succeed, just like he did on the court. Los Angeles is lucky to have him.
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