Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Keys to success this season
By Ed Schrenzel
Los Angeles Lakers fans are justifiably optimistic about the upcoming 2019-20 season. What are the three biggest keys for the team’s success?
NBA training camps begin at the end of this month. Los Angeles Lakers fans can’t wait to get a look at their newest superstar, Anthony Davis, in purple and gold.
A year ago the excitement centered around the addition of LeBron James. It was universally thought that he would help lead the young Laker core into the playoffs for the first time in six years.
But the 2018-19 season proved that things don’t always go as anticipated. In the aftermath, the Lakers significantly reshuffled their deck. Out the door went President of Basketball Operations Magic Johnson, Coach Luke Walton and most of his staff, and 10 players, including burgeoning stars Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball along with other youngsters Josh Hart, Moritz Wagner, Johnathan Williams and Isaac Bonga, and veterans Lance Stephenson, Tyson Chandler, Reggie Bullock and Mike Muscala.
Correspondingly, the Lakers gave expanded power to general manager Rob Pelinka, hired Frank Vogel as head coach after a protracted search, added two former NBA head coaches, Jason Kidd and Lionel Hollins, as his assistants. They also restocked the roster with Davis and a bevy of solid veterans.
The arrival of AD raises the prospect that the Lakers just might be able to contend for the NBA championship, which the team last won in 2011. Hopes haven’t run this high since the ill-fated 2012-13 season when despite the additions of Steve Nash and Dwight Howard, the Lakers ended up crashing and burning.
The goal, of course, is to avoid similar disappointment this time around. Aside from what players need to accomplish individually, here are the three collective team keys for the Lakers to have a successful season.