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The Los Angeles Lakers, in the minds of many, became legitimate contenders for this season's NBA championship not long after they traded for generational superstar Luka Doncic. While they lost Game 1 of their first-round playoff series to the Minnesota Timberwolves by 22 points on Saturday, they responded with an impressive defensive effort in Game 2 that got them a nine-point victory and tied the series.
The Athletic polled 158 players across the league anonymously on a number of topics. One of those topics was who would win it all this season, and perhaps not surprisingly, 57.7% picked the Celtics, the defending champions. But the Lakers finished fourth with 6.6% of the vote behind the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On a number of other topics, the Lakers didn't do too badly either:
Five years from now, who will be the face of the league? The San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama won this one by a mile, despite his recent blood clot that prematurely ended his season. But Doncic finished fifth with 2.9% of the vote. If he improves his fitness and conditioning, and if the Lakers consistently surround him with a roster that contends for the title, he could enjoy many years at or near the top of the league individually.
Who is the league’s most underrated player? Austin Reaves finished fourth here with 3.7% of the vote. This may be a surprise, given how much people have talked about him lately after he raised his production yet again this season.
The days of people thinking the Lakers would have to trade Reaves in order to take a step forward may be over, as Sam Amick and Josh Robbins pointed out.
What is the league’s best organization? Despite all the criticism Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and governor Jeanie Buss have gotten over the years for various personnel decisions, the Lakers finished sixth in the poll on this topic with 5.1% of the vote.
No one voted for them as the league's worst organization.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick got 2.7% of the vote for the best coach, which put him in 10th place. He got no votes for the worst coach in the NBA.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: How the Lakers did in The Athletic's anonymous player poll
Continue reading...
The Athletic polled 158 players across the league anonymously on a number of topics. One of those topics was who would win it all this season, and perhaps not surprisingly, 57.7% picked the Celtics, the defending champions. But the Lakers finished fourth with 6.6% of the vote behind the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Cleveland Cavaliers.
On a number of other topics, the Lakers didn't do too badly either:
Five years from now, who will be the face of the league? The San Antonio Spurs' Victor Wembanyama won this one by a mile, despite his recent blood clot that prematurely ended his season. But Doncic finished fifth with 2.9% of the vote. If he improves his fitness and conditioning, and if the Lakers consistently surround him with a roster that contends for the title, he could enjoy many years at or near the top of the league individually.
Who is the league’s most underrated player? Austin Reaves finished fourth here with 3.7% of the vote. This may be a surprise, given how much people have talked about him lately after he raised his production yet again this season.
The days of people thinking the Lakers would have to trade Reaves in order to take a step forward may be over, as Sam Amick and Josh Robbins pointed out.
What is the league’s best organization? Despite all the criticism Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka and governor Jeanie Buss have gotten over the years for various personnel decisions, the Lakers finished sixth in the poll on this topic with 5.1% of the vote.
No one voted for them as the league's worst organization.
Lakers head coach JJ Redick got 2.7% of the vote for the best coach, which put him in 10th place. He got no votes for the worst coach in the NBA.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: How the Lakers did in The Athletic's anonymous player poll
Continue reading...
