(Photo by Ethan Miller/Getty Images)
The Los Angeles Lakers rallied late in the fourth quarter to get their first win of the NBA season.
However, they may not feel great about themselves, given the context of the win.
The Phoenix Suns were without Bradley Beal and Devin Booker, and they needed 39-year-old LeBron James to bail them out and play all 12 minutes in the fourth quarter to get a five-point win at home.
That’s why former NBA player Jay Williams showed his concerns for the Lakers on ESPN’s Get Up.
Williams believes the reality with this Lakers team is that they’re not good enough to keep up with the rest of the contenders in the Western Conference.
“The Lakers needed LeBron James to play every minute in the fourth quarter for them to beat a team without Bradley Beal or Devin Booker playing.”
@RealJayWilliams pic.twitter.com/vUS7LHCiNh
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) October 27, 2023
He believes yesterday’s game was a realistic picture of where they stand in comparison to other teams: They’re a good team, not a great team.
Rob Pelinka and the front office were quite high on the additions they made mid-season, and they wanted to give that core some continuity this year.
It’s a fact that they clicked almost right away last season, and they had the second-best record in the league after the All-Star break, so it made sense to double down on them after a trip to the Western Conference Finals.
Nonetheless, they’re not on the same tier as, say, the Denver Nuggets, Phoenix Suns, Los Angeles Clippers, or even Sacramento Kings and Golden State Warriors from a talent standpoint.
Someone will have to step up and give LeBron James a hand, and history has shown that Anthony Davis might not be that guy, at least not on a nightly basis.
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