The Los Angeles Lakers got off to a horrible start this season and it looked like the year was going to slip away from the team before it even started. Los Angeles started with a 2-10 record and if it was not for a Matt Ryan prayer three, the team would have been 1-11.
However, since then, this team has found its identity and has been playing some of the best basketball in the entire sport. Los Angeles is 8-2 since that horrible start with a massive win over Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks.
There is still a lot of basketball left to play but it is hard to not be excited about the way the Lakers are playing right now. It is even harder not to get excited when you realize that this team has some pretty striking similarities to the 2020 team that won the NBA Championship.
3 major things the Lakers have in common with the 2020 Lakers:
1. Anthony Davis playing at an absurd level
Anthony Davis came to the Lakers and instantly continued to be dominant. Davis was fantastic for the Lakers all season and was playing like a top-five player in the league for most of the year. Then the season went on hiatus for the COVID-19 pandemic and Davis came back playing even better.
AD’s bubble run really is a thing of history. While LeBron James won the NBA Finals MVP, Davis was the best player in the entire state of Florida during the Lakers’ championship run that season. The things he was doing were incredible as he elevated his game to yet another level.
Davis is back at the level here in December of 2022. It is going to be really hard to play at this level every night all season but AD has shown that the alien version of himself has not left the planet and that he can will the Lakers to succeed single-handily if he needs to.