3 playoff heroes who easily could have been on the Los Angeles Lakers

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - APRIL 17: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics walks through a crowd of fans after the Celtics defeat the Nets 115-114 in Round 1 Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at TD Garden on April 17, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - APRIL 17: Jayson Tatum #0 of the Boston Celtics walks through a crowd of fans after the Celtics defeat the Nets 115-114 in Round 1 Game 1 of the 2022 NBA Eastern Conference Playoffs at TD Garden on April 17, 2022 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Meg Oliphant/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

The Los Angeles Lakers had arguably the most disappointing season in NBA history this year. Los Angeles was the favorite to win the NBA Championship in the Western Conference before the season began and was unable to even make the play-in.

The play-in’s existence gave a false sense of security that the Lakers could extend their season and get hot in the playoffs. In reality, the purple and gold were so far from being a playoff-caliber team as they finished a whopping nine games out of eighth place in the Western Conference.

The Lakers were closer in record to the second-worst team in the West, the Oklahoma City Thunder, than they were being a traditional top-eight seed. That is how bad the season was for the franchise.

Even worse, there are playoff heroes still playing that could have been Los Angeles Lakers.

Before the NBA Playoffs began we broke down all of the former Lakers who actually got a chance to play in the playoffs this season. Today, we break down three players who easily could have been Lakers and are instead balling out on other teams in the playoffs.

We are only one round into the playoffs but these three players have arguably been playoff heroes for their respective teams thus far. Just imagine if they were actually members of the Los Angeles Lakers.