At this point, everyone has heard the same concerns and jokes about the Los Angeles Lakers ahead of the 2021-22 NBA season. With the additions of Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan and Rajon Rondo while being led by LeBron James, many believe the Lakers are simply too old to win the championship.
Of the 13 players under guaranteed contracts for the Lakers right now, nine are at least 32 years old with five of those being at least 35 years old. The Lakers are obviously trying to win now and value the experience of these players over strictly youth, but some believe this was the wrong way to go.
Everyone within the organization obviously disagrees and have been open about it, and one of those new Lakers thinks it’s just the easy narrative.
Anthony spoke to Adam Caparell of Complex Sports and says its too easy for the media and others to voice that opinion, though he does understand why it needs to happen:
“To be honest, I think it’ll be too easy for you guys to be like, “Yeah, they’re going to be like this.” It’s too easy. You guys are baiting people to start a debate. It’s all about debate. We get it. We understand it. This is what you guys have to do. We understand that and we laugh at it and take it with a grain of salt and move on because everybody on the outside have their opinions about it and we’re the ones who know who we are. We know what we have to do. We know how we going to do it. Those are the things we have to deal with. So it’s easy for the outsiders or naysayers to give their overall perspective and it’s very opinionated. And ya’ll should do that. [Laughs] You should do that because it bring more viewers and bring more eyeballs and bring more conversation and more anticipation. If and when it does happen, winning a championship, that’s the fun part.”
Anthony is right in that it will bring more eyeballs and anticipation to the Lakers this season, not that the team would need that anyway. Regardless of what some believe the team is capable of, everyone will be watching them once the season begins to see how it all comes together.
While they are one of the betting favorites coming into the season, the Lakers understand that there is a lot of work that needs to be done in order for them to come together and win a championship. But all of the talking before the season only ensures that everyone will be watching every step of the way.
Anthony understands the significance of playing for Lakers
Anthony and the Lakers have been linked at various times throughout his career, only now finally coming together and the significance of putting on that Lakers jersey is not lost on Anthony. Carmelo noted that it is ‘different’ in the Purple and Gold than any other jersey and coming from someone of his stature, that hits different.
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