Reacts: Lakers fans aren’t panicking despite winless preseason

Welcome to SB Nation Reacts, a survey of fans across the NBA. Each week, we send out questions to the most plugged in Los Angeles Lakers fans, and fans across the country. Sign up here to join Reacts.

The NBA preseason is a fascinating time of year. Teams play a bunch of televised games that don’t count with abnormal rotations, and in which it’s not always clear whether or not the players on the court are all trying. Afterwards, we all try to figure out if there is anything we can take away from them.

That struggle to find meaning is at the center of this weeks SB Nation NBA Reacts poll, as fans around the league were asked if they felt better, worse or the same about their favorite team after the preseason than they did when the roster was put together this summer.

The results were not exactly surprising:

That’s how the preseason usually goes. A few people overreact to what’s going on, but most fans of teams playing well feel even better, and most fans of teams that are struggling — like the Lakers — convince themselves it doesn’t matter.

The truth, as always, is somewhere likely in the middle, but that’s also probably why Lakers fans aren’t exactly panicking in droves over the team’s 0-5 (so far) exhibition campaign:

For what it’s worth, the Lakers themselves seem to feel similarly, and are preaching patience while they adjust to playing together.

Elsewhere, in the WNBA, real basketball that counts is being played, and the Phoenix Mercury just evened up the WNBA Finals at 1-1 on Wednesday night.

Perhaps, given that the series is literally even so far, it shouldn’t be a shock that only a slight majority of voters feel that the Mercury will win the series, just 4% more than those that picked the Chicago Sky.

Game 3 of the best-of-five series is on Friday.

To vote in the Reacts surveys and have your voice heard each week, sign up here. For more Lakers talk, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.