The Los Angeles Lakers will soon tipoff the season’s first game as they go against the Los Angeles Clippers to defend their championship this year. It’s known that the team has less than two months to rest when they started a three-week training camp and four preseason games.
The last season was surely a tough time not only for the Lakers but the whole NBA league because of the pandemic. Fortunately, the last season was still able to push through before the year ends because of the NBA bubble and strict protocols that the league implemented for everyone’s safety.
The NBA During the Pandemic
The rest of the next season will likely take place behind closed doors but people can still enjoy watching their favorite teams through live streams. Fans can still place their bets on their teams as well online.
More people will likely be betting on sports online right now since outdoor gatherings and activities are still limited in most places. If you’re new to betting, you can easily research basketball betting tips to improve your game. It is also important that you know how your team is doing before the games that they play.
Lakers Status
For the Lakers, Lebron James spoke about how this season is a marathon and not a sprint for them. They all need to mentally and physically prepare for the upcoming 72-game season. This is especially now that there is still a pandemic and the NBA is already getting rid of the bubble.
James spoke about the training and the team recently.
“It’s been a different training camp, to say the least, but for the time that we’ve had, which hasn’t been that much, I feel like we’ve put in the work and have gotten better. We’re not where we want to be long-term, but that’s okay, because it’s a long season, it’s a long journey. But I think, to the credit of the guys, we’ve gotten better as the days have gone on.” ~ LeBron James
The protocols implemented by the NBA can greatly affect the availability of the players this season and it could create an unpredictable situation for the head coach, Frank Vogel, as to which players will be available on a nightly basis.
Testing will still play an important part in letting the season push through. It is expected that players, coaches, and other key staff of the league will be tested daily in most cases. Since they will be out of the bubble, everyone is expected that they will still do their best to stay healthy.
Lakers players like LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pop are all working themselves out to be in game shape. They will also have to do that during the regular season.
Coach Vogel also talked about how the team is doing and preparing. He said, “Not only do we have the shortest offseason, but you’re coming out of an environment where you were in a bubble for 3 ½ months. So, you have to mentally get past that first. And then you have to start thinking about how to get your body and your mind ready for the next season.
“So, it’s not an offseason where you’re saying I want to add certain things to my game. It’s really about trying to refresh your mind, keeping your body in shape, maintaining your skillset, and then coming back and getting to work… We’ve tried to give everybody sort of an individual plan of what works best for them. We’re all just trying to make the best of it. We’re going to have some ugly moments early in the season as a result of it, and that’s just the nature of what we’re going through.”
There are still players in the team that are not yet in game shape and everyone knows that this is prevalent during the start of the season. The team already has nagging injuries for players like Caldwell-Pope who had a hip injury and Dennis Schroder with an ankle injury.
The coach explained that it may take time to get their rhythm back. He said, “I am getting winded out there,” Caldwell-Pope said about preseason play. “But it’s going to take time to get the rhythm back, especially game rhythm, running up and down the court. We had a short offseason to try and recover from bruises or injuries that we had from last season. We didn’t have time to try to take care of our bodies, because we had to get back to work.
“I feel like we’ll just try to manage it day by day. Even in practice or in games and you’re feeling something, you don’t want to force it. And just take care of yourself.”
