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What Do the Lakers Need that the Sixers Have?

By Shereen Rayan

Oct 28, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers bench is clearly disappointed with the score late in the fourth quarter against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Utah Jazz defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 96-89. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 28, 2016; Salt Lake City, UT, USA; The Los Angeles Lakers bench is clearly disappointed with the score late in the fourth quarter against the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena. The Utah Jazz defeated the Los Angeles Lakers 96-89. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Swinger-USA TODAY Sports /
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Lately, there is a lot of buzz around the Philadelphia 76ers, not the Los Angeles Lakers. Both teams are young, so what makes the Sixers so exciting?

There were high hopes at the beginning of the season that this Lakers team, with their new head coach, could be a possible playoff contender. The Lakers started the season hot, with huge wins over the Atlanta Hawks, the Houston Rockets, and the Golden State Warriors in their first few games.

In fact, the Lakers were even a .500 team for a short while. No one thought they would win as many games as they did, except maybe the Lakers themselves.

After they had stunned the Warriors, LA  hosted the Phoenix Suns and beat them too! Three straight wins? It was too good to be true, but luckily it wasn’t, and the Lakers were sitting on a winning record (4-3) seven games into the season. They stayed pretty close to .500 through the end of November until the team hit an eight-game losing skid.

Before the rough patch, the team was playing a fun brand of basketball, they had the right team attitude, and there was hope. Now that hope is gone, while hope is the highest it’s been in Philadelphia.

What do the Lakers need that the Sixers have? Well for starters, they have one of the most dominant young centers in the NBA, Joel Embiid, but they also have intangibles you can’t teach; hard work, a “don’t count us out” attitude and leadership on the court.

The Sixers, who were busy losing themselves at the beginning of the season, have become an above .500 team in the past few months despite injuries to key players like Ben Simmons and Jerryd Bayless.

These injuries opened up opportunities for some of the Sixers’ reserves, including former Arizona Wildcat T.J. McConnell. McConnell brought a new energy and led the team to an 11-5 record in the month of January alongside the polarizing figure that is Embiid. They feel strong and don’t let losses get them down.

The Sixers players boast about each other and it gets fans excited about the team because they enjoy their chemistry. McConnell has been the talk of the NBA of late, especially because he made two crucial game-winning shots. Embiid even called him “Clutchest player in the history of the NBA.”

Being a team player, Embiid credits the team’s success not only to game winning shots but also ball movement, But it’s the mindset of the team that is helping them build the confidence they need to perform well and play cohesively.

Another reason the Sixers are more exciting, along with their new confidence, is that they are having fun playing the game. They have multiple playmakers on the team that make sure to feed all the mouths on the team.

The Sixers have three players averaging at least four assists per game, including McConnell who leads the team 6.1 assists per game. They also have each other’s backs.

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Case in point: A few of the Sixers recently responded to Nicolas Batum’s guarantee of a victory in Monday’s game in Charlotte. Nerlens Noel wasn’t happy.

“You can’t say that with us,” he said. “We’re not the team that we used to be in the past few years.”

The Sixers as a team believe they are better than they have been in the past. The Lakers as a team don’t seem to believe in themselves as much as their coach and fans do. Individually you will find Lou Williams and Larry Nance Jr. giving it all they have and taking responsibility for losses, wanting to win and prove themselves.

Conversely, on the Sixers, it seems the whole team is on the same page. Here’s McConnell speaking up for his team.

Williams has the right attitude and is a natural leader that the young players could learn a lot from, but he is reportedly on the trading block so someone is going to have to step up sooner than later. The Lakers would like that person to D’Angelo Russell.

The Sixers are barely ahead of the Lakers record-wise. When it is all said and done, they are 21-35, and the Lakers are 19-39. Both teams are trying to get back to at least .500 and who knows if either team will get there. That said, it’s clear the Lakers have to continue their hard work and chemistry building for the next 25 games. They have already surpassed last seasons’ wins by two so far.

Five Lakers were recognized as Emerging Stars by ESPN recently, and that’s great, but the Lakers need them to be stars now. Coach Walton is trying everything he possibly can, and we commend him for thinking out of the box. The team needs a consistent playmaker who is a leader, something the team has lacked in the last few years.

Must Read: Five Lakers Named In ESPN’s Rising Stars Rankings

The Lakers also need to get back that Metta World Peace inspired “I Love Basketball” team attitude they had at the beginning of the season. They need the Sixers attitude to rub off on them. So we will see, maybe the Hot Yoga they are trying out will help them get to .500.

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