Can the Lakers have a Warriors-esque rebirth?

The last time the Lakers missed the playoffs, they followed that up by decisively winning a title. After another year out of the postseason (somehow their second time doing so with LeBron James), however, there is less optimism for another championship rebound, for a variety of reasons.

Seeing as James is entering the twilight of his prime, though, if the Lakers are going to have to turn things around in similarly short order. They don’t really have a choice in the matter.

On the latest episode of “I Love Basketball”, Raj Chipalu and Sabreena Merchant looked at another team that has successfully executed the lottery-to-Finals turnaround in one season — the Golden State Warriors — and tried to figure out what the Lakers can learn from that franchise, and what lessons L.A. has already chosen to ignore.

They also attempted to determine if the Warriors are likable or hatable while analyzing all of the characteristics that have made this team so successful for the better part of the decade. Frankly, this is a borderline unanswerable question, but the lessons are always in the attempt.

Afterwards, Raj and Sabreena moved on to something they actually both enjoy: The Los Angeles Sparks. Raj talks about attending his first Sparks game and the two dive into the offensive goodness that Derek Fisher’s squad is putting forth this year while once again making a case for more people to check out L.A.’s WNBA team.

You can listen to the full episode below, and to make sure you never miss a show, subscribe to the Silver Screen and Roll podcast feed on iTunes, Spotify, Stitcher or Google Podcasts.

And for a short-form recap pod, check out Lakers Lowdown, in which Anthony Irwin recaps the previous day’s news and gets you ready for the day ahead in LakerLand, every weekday morning on the Silver Screen & Roll Podcast feed.