Why the Los Angeles Lakers would handle the Brooklyn Nets with ease
By Jason Reed
1. The Los Angeles Lakers have much better chemistry with their stars
From a pure numbers standpoint, the Brooklyn Nets’ star power is now greater than the Lakers’ star power as three superstars are more than two. However, there is so much more to this than just having more superstars.
A big component of whether or not this is going to work is the style fit as well as the chemistry of the stars. We know that LeBron James and Anthony Davis fit together just about as perfectly as two stars of their caliber can fit.
We also know that they really enjoy playing with each other and exhibit excellent chemistry. The same cannot be said over in Brooklyn.
The Nets have three very ball-dominant players sharing the court. Kevin Durant knows what it takes to play on a team like this so he is not the one to worry about. It is Harden and Irving.
Irving is not even with the team right now and there are already reports that Irving is frustrated with the Nets. Of course. Harden hasn’t been the second-best player on a team since his OKC days and his iso-ball is not going to work on this team.
The Boston Celtics were the most talented team in the Eastern Conference two and three seasons ago but did not make it far because Kyrie could not play well with his teammates. And we expect him to be okay being the third option when he left LeBron James so he could be “the guy”?
It is going to take a huge sacrifice from Harden and a massive surprise from Irving for this to work as well as it could for the Nets.