Los Angeles Lakers: 3 Ways they are proving to be championship contenders
Attitude
Even a great squad like the Clippers can succumb to an NBA trap game. The Blue and Red played inspired basketball to open their season against the Lakers and Warriors, picking up two wins in the process. Then Kawhi Leonard and company laid an egg against the underwhelming Phoenix Suns in LA’s third contest of the year.
The Lakers started the regular season playing the Clippers and Jazz, two of the best squads in the league. LA’s entire roster exerted a tremendous amount of energy battling the glut of great athletes that play for those two excellent teams.
It would have been easy for the Purple and Gold to mimic their crosstown rivals and throw up a low energy dud during their third game of the year against Charlotte, one of the worst teams in the association.
The Lakers did not play down to the level of their competition and eke out a slim win or even worse, lose the game. Instead, the Purple and Gold blew out the Hornets by 19 points.
Over the past six seasons, every high-level sports gambler bet against the Lakers to cover the spread whenever LA faced an undermanned squad because the Purple and Gold always came out soft against inferior competition.
Lakers fans know the pattern. First, LA would start the game lethargically, allowing the players on the inferior squad to gain confidence. Then the Lakers would enter halftime down double digits. Next, the Purple and Gold would play harder after the break to try to get back in the game. In the end, LA’s attempt at a comeback would fall short, and the Lakers would suffer a bad loss.
This year, things are different in Hollywood. Every player on the Lakers roster has a serious approach towards the game of basketball.
We’re only three games into the season, but the Lakers culture has shifted. Sure the Purple and Gold will lose a few games that they shouldn’t this year, but for the most part, the Lakers are going to buckle down and beat the weaker squads across the association.
After almost a decade, the Lakers are finally playing with a championship attitude again. The Purple and Gold are focused on stomping through the regular season and getting one of the top seeds in the difficult western conference.