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Inside the Lakers’ practice facility in El Segundo, Calif., the approach to the season is splashed on a gold screen against a wall. Championship Habits reads the top line. Championship Communication, right below it. On the third line: Championship Shape. And in case the Lakers’ title-driven mindset wasn’t clear, players shot around in T-shirts with OBSESSION emblazoned across the chest—with the ‘IO’ replaced by ’18,’ the number of what would be the team’s next championship.
“There’s the internal expectations of what the standards are and what’s required every day versus the external expectations, which kind of really don’t matter,” said JJ Redick. “We kind of have to set that for ourselves, which that’s a process to build. You don’t come in Day 1 and say, ‘O.K., this is our standard, these are our expectations,’ and then it’s boom, perfect. It takes a little bit of time. We were last year and we’ll continue to be all year. We will be very clear with what the expectations are.”
An active offseason has clearly convinced the Lakers they are in play in what is a particularly brutal Western Conference. Luka Dončić is leaner and in a far better headspace than he was eight months ago, when Dallas shocked the basketball world and shipped him to Los Angeles. LeBron James, months away from turning 41, is months removed from his 21st All-NBA selection. And the Lakers plugged holes in the middle (Deandre Ayton) and wing (Marcus Smart) with battle-tested talent.
At media day, Dončić formally unveiled his much-talked about physique. Dončić is officially listed at 244 pounds, which is around 15 to 20 lighter than what he peaked at last season, sources tell Sports Illustrated. Conditioning consumed Dončić’s entire offseason. He said he felt the difference at EuroBasket. “Way less tired,” said Dončić. He won’t say it’s the best he’s felt—“Maybe yes, maybe no,” said Dončić—but he’s in a better place physically than he was at the end of last season.
Mentally, too. The trauma—and for Dončić it was traumatic—from the Dallas trade has subsided. He’s a Laker now, with a three-year, $165 extension from them to prove it. A full training camp, Dončić says, will give him the opportunity to develop chemistry with his new teammates, along with a comfort level to lead them.
“Coming into the new team, it’s kind of hard to get the leadership up,” said Dončić. “But that’s what preseason is for. I had a great run with my national team, kind of worked on that leadership role, so I feel way more comfortable.”
Leadership has never been an issue for James. Nor has conditioning, which, as he enters his 23rd season, remains astonishing. James played 70 games for the Lakers last season, averaging nearly 35 minutes per game. The result was more individual accolades—James earned a second-team All-NBA nod—but a disappointing first-round playoff exit.
The Lakers are clearly cognizant of James’s energy meter. Getting James to take his foot off the gas has been a challenge for every L.A. coach. Frank Vogel dealt with it, then handed that Kobayashi Maru mission to Darvin Ham. When healthy, James wants to play, and most of the time the Lakers are a lot better when he does. Still, as Redick told reporters, this was “uncharted territory.”
The first signs of an attempt to power James down came this week, with James a partial participant in the first few days of camp. Redick admitted to some missteps handling James last fall. “He probably did too much last year in camp,” said Redick. Officially, James is battling a nerve irritation in his glute—or, another way, a pain in the ass—but it’s clear the Lakers are committed to reducing James’s workload.
“It’ll be a slower process with him leading into the first game,” said Redick. “He’s obviously got 22 years so far of wear and tear on the body. So we’re playing the long game.”
What would help with that would be production from the supporting cast. Ayton is a fascinating addition. His numbers are outstanding. He averaged 14.4 points (on 56.6% shooting) and 10.2 rebounds with the Blazers last season, and in seven seasons has consistently produced impressive stat lines. But there has been an empty calories vibe to Ayton’s game of late, which contributed to a cool market for this offseason. Ayton says L.A. will get an “angry” version of him, and the Lakers believe a partnership with Doncic will bring the best out of him.
Smart is another fallen star. Three years ago, Smart collected the Defensive Player of the Year award. But he has played just 54 games over the last two seasons, bouncing between Memphis and Washington. The Lakers have plenty of firepower in the backcourt between Dončić and Austin Reaves. If Smart can rediscover the player he was in Boston—or something close to it—he will be an ideal complement.
The margin for error is slim, as it is for most teams in the West. But the Lakers have reason to be optimistic. Dončić kicks the crap out of Oklahoma City in whatever uniform he is in. He scored 53 points in back-to-back games against the Thunder last April, which would have been more had Dončić not been erroneously ejected in the fourth quarter of one of them. James is James. Redick will be better in his second season. Reaves is poised for another jump. L.A. finished the regular season beating Oklahoma City, Dallas and Houston in the final weeks. The Lakers believe they can pick up from there.
“I think we showed we can play with anybody,” said Dončić. “I think we had that one stretch that I felt like we played the best basketball in the NBA. Obviously, we add some new pieces to the team. So I’m very excited and I think we can do some big things.”
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Lakers’ New Title Push: Luka Dončić’s Transformation, LeBron James’s Longevity.
