The Los Angeles Lakers have put together one of the most star-studded rosters in recent memory and the latest addition of veteran point guard Rajon Rondo has only added to the name value of the team. Of course, games aren’t played on paper and the Lakers will still have to come together on the court, but the amount of star talent on the roster is still extremely impressive.
Though many will make fun of the age of the roster, as most of these stars are no longer in their prime years, they have still proven recently that they can hang with the NBA’s elite. Regardless of how you look at it, the Lakers have put together a roster unlike any other in the history of the NBA.
According to ESPN Stats and Info, the Lakers have seven players on the roster who have made an All-NBA team in their career, a number that no team has ever reached in league history:
The Lakers now have 7 players who have made All-NBA in their careers:
LeBron James
Anthony Davis
Russell Westbrook
Carmelo Anthony
Dwight Howard
Marc Gasol
Rajon RondoNo team has had 7 former All-NBA players appear for them in at least 1 game in a season.
h/t @EliasSports
— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) August 31, 2021
Of those seven players, Anthony Davis is likely the only one that most would consider to be in his ‘prime’ years. That being said, last season, LeBron James was in the MVP conversation before suffering that high ankle sprain and made All-NBA second team while Russell Westbrook averaged a triple-double again and was the catalyst to the Washington Wizards playoff push, just barely missing out on a third-team selection.
Meanwhile, both Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard played at a high level in the Lakers’ 2020 championship run and while Rondo struggled last season, Howard undoubtedly kept up his level of play in Philadelphia. Additionally, Carmelo Anthony has been excellent in a bench role the last two seasons and Marc Gasol was still the Lakers’ best center last year, having a number of great moments.
Needless to say, the Lakers older players have shown very recently that they can still make a big impact and this season they plan on coming together to bring the franchise their 18th NBA Championship.
Phil Handy says Lakers must figure out how to play together
The journey to that championship will be a long one for the Lakers and all of this talent will have to be on the same page to accomplish that goal. This is something very apparent to Lakers assistant coach Phil Handy.
The respected coach acknowledged the great talent on the roster but noted that they have a lot of work to do in order to gel as a team. Most importantly, however, he stressed that the Lakers need to sacrifice to be successful.
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