More often than not, the best teams in the NBA are not only talented but have built chemistry over many years with their core players. Teams like the Golden State Warriors and Milwaukee Bucks are good examples, but this year’s Los Angeles Lakers are the exact opposite after adding the likes of Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell, Jarred Vanderbilt and others in the middle of the season.
Now the Lakers must work hard to build that chemistry as they move forward, with roles of players regularly changing while in the midst of a playoff push. It is not an easy task, but one that must be done in order to come together and play at the highest level they are capable of.
One thing that helps is that this group of players is a vocal group and Hachimura loves the communication of this Lakers team both on and off the court. He was asked who has helped his transition the most and says everyone has done their part, via Spectrum SportsNet:
“It’s everybody. Everybody’s vocal here. Everybody talks. Everybody likes each other. On the court, off the court, we always talk, we always communicate so I think that’s good. We’re trying to figure out, we’re trying to fix. Of course at first it’s not gonna work like that so we gotta communicate. We’re trying to make the team better so I think it’s been pretty good, we gotta keep doing that.”
Chemistry on the court is so important as it allows players to know where everyone is going to be, where they like to operate from and other things of that nature. While being best friends off the court isn’t a requirement, it can give a bit of extra motivation to not let each other down.
The situation the Lakers are in is a tough one and they will only succeed by coming together, something Hachimura believes will be crucial down the stretch:
“For sure, but it’s not easy for anybody just coming into this environment and playing together. But that’s how the NBA is. We just gotta stick together on the court, but also off the court it’s very important to the chemistry. So we just gotta build the chemistry. It’s only been like a week, two weeks so it’s crazy. I feel like we still have, not a lot, but games left so I think chemistry will be the key to winning those games.”
Pulling together and playing as a team is the Lakers’ best chance of making that playoff push that everyone wants. Chemistry is key for every team, and the Lakers have to figure out a way to build it on the fly.
Lakers’ LeBron James to be reevaluated in 3 weeks with foot tendon injury
One thing that helps chemistry is a superstar the caliber of LeBron James who can ease everyone into situations, but unfortunately the Lakers won’t have that buffer for a while.
The team announced that LeBron suffered a tendon injury in his right foot in Sunday’s contest against the Dallas Mavericks and will be reevaluated in three weeks.
With just 19 games remaining, the Lakers will have to pull through without their leader and best player in order to accomplish that goal of making the playoffs.
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