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Should the Los Angeles Lakers panic over their playoff situation?

By Craig Cochran

LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 30: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts end of the game after losing to the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center on April 30, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 30: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers reacts end of the game after losing to the Sacramento Kings at Staples Center on April 30, 2021 in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images) /
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Los Angeles Lakers
Los Angeles Lakers Mandatory Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports /

Pump the brakes on doubting the Los Angeles Lakers

When speaking of the Los Angeles Lakers’ immediate future, the main thing to consider is that it revolves, as it always has, around their two planetary talents. It isn’t about the Lakers’ supporting cast of well-blended role players, nor is it about the threat the league’s other dynamic duos or trios may impose. At the end of the day, this is solely about the pairing of LeBron James and Anthony Davis, a championship-winning, perfected chemistry experiment between one of the most talented big men ever to play the game and one of the two greatest basketball players ever to walk the planet.

In comparative terms to their adversaries, it’s oranges versus apples, The Beach Boys versus The Beatles, RC Cola versus Classic Coke. Davis and James remain the best duo in basketball even with their accumulated missed time this season. Until someone knocks them off their pedestal, this should stay the consensus.

Overall, I understand the current panic in Lakerland and the barbed criticism the team is enduring from outsiders. Although they currently sit as a playoff team in the middle of the Western Conference standings, this season has probably felt like a small nightmare for Jeanie Buss and the Laker-faithful. But before we start burying their hopes to successfully defend their title, perhaps we should exercise the same enthusiasm in pumping the brakes on our growing Lakers’ doubts.

How many times have we seen a LeBron-led team experience rocky regular-season moments? How many times have the media and idiotic Twitter users piled on LeBron for his age and declining athleticism? How many times has Anthony Davis been hampered by a seemingly severe injury only to come back and flip double-birds at his skeptics with ridiculous stat lines and an uncanny two-way impact? Most importantly, how many times have teams with legitimate Championship DNA been doubted only to ultimately prove us wrong in the end?

At this point, each question above seems answerable on an annual basis. As we have come to learn about LeBron, AD, and the entire Lakers organization, there is no challenge they look forward to more than the one in front of them. So, though the outspoken doubts are loud, clear, and ultimately fair, it should come as no surprise if the Los Angeles Lakers make a fool out of their critics by winding up as the lone team standing at the end of the year.

dark. Next. A special year for point guards wearing No. 4

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