Los Angeles Lakers: 3 keys to reclaiming the throne as champions in 2022

3. The Los Angeles Lakers need to stay relatively healthy

This is a no-brainer but it is relevant with how the Los Angeles Lakers lost this season. While it was no guarantee that the Lakers would have won the title if healthy, they definitely would have had a good chance.

The Bucks taking over and winning four games in a row looked very similar to how the Lakers played in Game 2 and 3 of the first-round series. Anthony Davis was a serious problem for the Suns and it is no coincidence that the second he got hurt the Suns got significantly better against LA.

It is more than just staying healthy in the playoffs, which is obvious. The Lakers need a relatively clean bill of health during the season as well. Sure, certain players missing a handful of games here and there is not a big deal in the grand scheme of things.

But the team needs to play together and gel together on the court. Even when healthy, the Lakers were a team that did not really know its own rotations. The Lakers welcomed in four new impact rotation players in the offseason and also brought in Andre Drummond as a buyout signing.

Even worse, all of these new players did not really get the chance to play with both LeBron and AD. They had no time to get accustomed to their roles. The Lakers are going to have a lot of new faces next season and not getting the minutes together will hurt the team.

Staying healthy in the playoffs is obvious but it is more important that the Lakers can get the same on-court chemistry that the team had in 2020. That is what made the team so special and allowed them to power through the NBA bubble.