Since the inception of the NBA’s play-in tournament, back in 2021, the Los Angeles Lakers have found themselves frequent visitors to that postseason event. They’ve had pretty good luck once there, having twice gone as the No. 7 seed, winning their first game to secure their spot in the playoffs, and once as the No. 8 seed. They won that game, too, meaning the star forward LeBron James is a sterling 3-0 in play-in tournament history.
Don’t expect that to pop up much, though, when the case is being made for James as the NBA’s GOAT. Come on, Michael Jordan never even had to play in the play-in tournament. Ahem.
But this season, despite a sky-is-falling ending to the year, which saw the Lakers’ top two scorers–Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves–go out with injuries that are likely to keep both out for the entire first round of the playoffs, the Lakers managed to win 53 games and finish up with the No. 4 seed and a matchup against the Houston Rockets. That’s no cakewalk, of course. The Rockets won 52 games.
At least it’s not the play-in, though.
LeBron James ‘Happy’ to be Out of Play-In
That was the feeling from James as he was able to take a little time off before the Lakers’ postseason officially starts on Saturday. Appearing on his “Mind the Game” podcast with Steve Nash, James made clear his feelings on participating in the play-in tournament.
Said James: “I am happy because being a participant of the (expletive) play-in for some years, that I get to sit back on my couch with my wine knowing I don’t have to play until the weekend. Just sit there and just like enjoy. I’ll have one iPad with golf on and the other with the play-in. I will be so excited.
“It’s perfect. I get a week to prepare and watch and just enjoy basketball.”
Lakers Hoping to Stay Alive in Postseason
It has been an odd season for James who started the year out because of sciatica, but came back to grasp the leadership reins once he was healthy in mid-November. The Lakers had trouble getting James, Doncic and Reaves all healthy at the same time, but took off once they did down the stretch of the season–the Lakers won 16 out of 18 games, and James handed over the team reins considerably to Doncic.
But now James will need to assume the alpha role again. Certainly, it is something he knows how to do. And he’s given his Lakers teammates some confidence they can handle the absence of Doncic and Reaves and keep the playoffs alive until they come back.
“All season people have counted us out and all we season we have continued to show why we belong here and that we really don’t care what people say,” guard Marcus Smart said. “And that’s us. That’s who we are and I think it shows with our two guys down and the way we finished the season and the miles we had going into the playoffs.”
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