The 2021-22 Los Angeles Lakers project failed miserably, as L.A. will finish the season after just 82 games having failed to qualify for the Play-In Tournament.
The Purple and Gold brought in Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony and Kendrick Nunn, among others, to support the LeBron James-Anthony Davis duo and return to the race for the NBA championship. But after an injury-ridden campaign, the Lakers will finish the 2021-22 campaign with the worst record since James’ arrival in 2018.
Davis has openly lamented L.A.’s bad luck on the injury front, wondering what the Purple and Gold could have become if they stayed healthy. But when asked whether the Lakers could try to give the 2021-22 project a go next year, hopefully with better health, the 29-year-old forward points out they might not be able to keep some of the players because of the way the roster was constructed.
“A lot of our guys, I think maybe besides four or five, are on one-year deals,” Davis says. “So that’s a personal choice for those guys.”
But Davis maintains that if this year’s Lakers had been healthier, they could have competed for the title.
“Like I said, when we put this team together, we had championship aspirations and once again, injuries got in the way of that,” he says.
“I think we would love to see, I think the world would love to see, if we were healthy for the full 82. Now if that repeats next year and we have the same team, who knows. Like I said, we got to recap this season, what worked and what didn’t work and go from there.
“But I truly think that we could’ve done something special but Bron and myself, mainly me, weren’t healthy for the entire season.”
Steph Curry & Luka Doncic among players Lakers’ James would like to play with
After the mid-season storm sparked by James’ comments about a potential Cleveland Cavaliers reunion, the 37-year-old said that as far as his career goes, he could see himself playing for the Lakers until he retires.
But the forward’s remarks in the latest episode of “The Shop: Uninterrupted” could lead to questions over his future again. James shared his wish list of players he would “hypothetically” like to join on the court someday, which includes Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Luka Doncic of the Dallas Mavericks.
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