LeBron James, #23, Los Angeles Lakers, (Photo by Ashley Landis – Pool/Getty Images)
LeBron James took the time out to mention his haters.
The Los Angeles Lakers, fresh off limping through a very un-Laker decade of futility, are back in the playoffs as the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference, as LeBron James and Anthony Davis have the Lakers humming along with a 51-15 record.
James called out the haters who left the Lakers for dead before the season, claiming that he’ll “enjoy this one” after LA’s status as the top dog in the West was confirmed after a 116-108 win over the Utah Jazz.
LeBron James has the Lakers back at the top of the West once again.
Even though the Lakers traded everyone with a pulse to facilitate the acquisition of Davis from the New Orleans Pelicans, this two-headed monster has been enough for the Lakers to power through the West despite losing key contributors like Avery Bradley after the NBA’s restart. LeBron is averaging 25.4 points while leading all of basketball with 10.4 assists per game, while Davis is leading the Lakers in scoring and rebounding with 26.8 points and 9.4 rebounds per game.
The Lakers might have a new head coach in Frank Vogel and a lack of perimeter depth, but these two superstars have the Lakers marching along. While the Clippers might have depth and the Rockets have shooting, the superstar quotient in LA was strong enough to overcome pessimistic preseason projections.
While listening to all the outside noise can be a way to help motivate, James is being a bit unreasonable here. As long as this Lakers team is led by one of the greatest players to ever pick up a basketball and the most offensively skilled big men in the game in James and Davis, respectively, they should be considered favorites to take home the title.