5 reasons why Lakers need to play an uptempo game this season

5. They do have plenty of footspeed and guys who are more effective in the open court

Some say that the Lakers have a much slower roster this season with the additions they made. These same people also say the Lakers are a much older team than they were in 2018-19.

That’s mostly balderdash.

Their main frontcourt guys – LeBron James, Davis, Howard, JaVale McGee and Kyle Kuzma – are all athletic and fleet-footed and excel in transition. All five of those players were also among the league leaders in dunks last season, and obviously the easiest way to get a slam dunk is on the fast break.

In addition, all five of those players, as well as backcourt players like Avery Bradley and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, are more effective in transition or early offense than they are in the halfcourt, even though they can still be very effective when the game slows down.

There’s an old saying that an advantage is only an advantage if you take advantage of it. Why start walking the ball upcourt if you have so many key players who can run the floor like a gazelle?

That would be like saying the Lakers of the ’80s should’ve played a halfcourt game because they had great low post players in Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy and Magic Johnson, as well as the strong dirty work and garbage baskets supplied by Mychal Thompson and A.C. Green.

That would’ve totally ignored the fact that most players on that squad were more effective playing Showtime than Slowtime.