The Los Angeles Lakers‘ path to the NBA Finals starts on Wednesday as the team squares off against the Golden State Warriors in the NBA’s inaugural play-in tournament. A win makes the Lakers the seventh seed. A loss gives the team one more chance to be the eighth seed.
Laker fans should not have to worry about missing the playoffs, let alone losing that first matchup. The defending champions should dismantle the Warriors on Wednesday night.
Once in, the Lakers will officially be a member of the NBA Playoffs and are still the betting favorite to represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.
However, there are some hurdles that the Lakers may potentially not be able to clear. While they are my pick to win it all this year, these hurdles could lead to the team falling short.
1. The Los Angeles Lakers’ health, and more importantly, LeBron James’ ankle
The Los Angeles Lakers have had a disaster season after having to endure the shortest offseason in American sports history. That had to have had some impact on the way the team fell apart as both Anthony Davis and LeBron James suffered serious injuries.
The LeBron injury was more surprising as the bionic superhuman has only had one real injury in his career before and it came in a year where he knew the Lakers were not winning the title anyway.
The high ankle sprain is a serious thing. He quickly reaggravated the injury upon initially returning and then left the final game of the season early as well. I get that they are being cautious, but just the fact that these small little tweaks are happening is concerning.
They won’t be as cautious in the playoffs and eventually, these small little moments will add up and it could lead to the doomsday scenario for the Lakers.
LeBron staying healthy does not guarantee that the Lakers will win it all, though. There are more hurdles to overcome.