1. It just wasn’t the Los Angeles Lakers’ year
When Davis and James missed much of the regular season, when Davis, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and Alex Caruso got injured during the Suns series and both Dennis Schroder and Marc Gasol spent time in the NBA’s health and safety protocols, it looks like it was a cursed season.
In the end, it just wasn’t meant to be for the 2020-21 Los Angeles Lakers.
The history of the NBA is littered with teams that could’ve or should’ve won the championship, but didn’t due to injuries.
Some Lakers fans may feel that, because of the team’s rich tradition and history, the team is supposed to win the championship every year they have a roster capable of doing so.
In reality, winning just one world title is extremely hard. The odds of winning multiple titles, let alone running off a true dynasty, are astronomical.
The Lakers were able to pull off a true dynasty in the 1980s, but most of that team was built prior to the advent of the salary cap. In addition, those were the days when rival executives were dumb enough to trade future draft picks that L.A. then used to draft superstars such as Magic Johnson and James Worthy.
Even back then, the team suffered key injuries in multiple years that may have singlehandedly prevented them from going all the way.
When injuries keep happening in bunches, it’s probably a sign that the team’s karma is just too messed up for them to win the championship.
At least this time, none of that should fall on Pelinka. Sometimes it just wasn’t meant to be.
Hopefully, with some more deft moves by Pelinka and better luck on the health front, the Lakers will regain the world championship in about 12 months.