Los Angeles Lakers: 5 reasons to look forward to 2018-19 season

1. The LA Lovefest With LeBron James

For as much crap as haters talk about Los Angeles sports fans, Laker fans are a devoted bunch, and we have been desperately looking for something to latch onto for a while now.

I believe it’s part of the reason why the youngster who has looked the best for us out of the gate – Kyle Kuzma – has done so well: because he came seemingly out of nowhere and hasn’t had all of the expectations laid on him. That might be BS, as Kuz clearly has that certain Je ne sais quois, but I feel like there’s a kernel of truth to it. All that is just to say that THIS is exactly what we have been waiting for.

It’s been a pretty dismal few years, but the city of Los Angeles and the extended Laker Nation has fully embraced this rebirth. Even in the hinterlands of Fresno, CA, where the average person honestly believes they are from northern California, “LA-Bron” t-shirts line the shop windows, and Laker flags have popped up in car windows. I can only imagine what the city of Los Angeles currently looks like.

Considering the basketball legacy that exists there, any inkling of success is sure to have people drawing parallels to glory days of old. For as obsessed as the town still is with Showtime, this current incarnation of the team looks much more likely to deliver on that blueprint than even Shaq and Kobe’s Lakers.

Whether or not they can achieve the same results remains to be seen, but it’s shaping up to be a fun ride. And if we play our cards right and work some magic in the offseason (pun intended), I suspect the results will follow suit.