The Los Angeles Lakers left a lot to be desired last season, losing to the Denver Nuggets in the first round of the 2024 NBA Playoffs. Of course, LeBron James and company could’ve avoided this with a better seed in the regular season.
The Nuggets, who arrived in the series as the reigning champions, managed to knock out the Lakers in five games. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, however, believes LeBron James and company should have won the series.
“You know how like, towards the playoffs guys get their rest. But I felt like that’s where we spent most of our energy and time trying to get that first place and playing catch-up. And we get to the playoffs, we have no gas. We felt like the Lakers should have beaten us. We were down every game,” Caldwell-Pope said on the Draymond Green Show. “At least 10 [points], I think the highest may be what, 20-something. Just taking that energy and using it there so it was a lot that went into that season.”
It was a surprising elimination by the Lakers since they led at halftime in every game against the Nuggets and held double-digit leads in three of their four losses. However, Denver managed to outscore LeBron James and company when it mattered the most, and it paid off.
Anthony Davis #3, LeBron James #23, Quinn Cook #2 and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope #1 of the Los Angeles Lakers pose during the 2020 NBA championship ring ceremony before their opening night game against the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples Center on December 22, 2020 in Los Angeles, California.
JJ Redick believes LeBron, Lakers can succeed
With Darvin Ham gone after the first-round elimination, the Lakers hired JJ Redick aiming to maximize LeBron James’ championship window before it’s too late. Even though we’re talking about a rookie head coach with a very similar roster from last season, the new bench boss believes LA has what it takes to contend.
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“I don’t look at the current roster as being that far off from a championship-caliber team. In terms of managing expectations, I think in life, you just got to embrace things. You know, you just really have to embrace things. You don’t run from it. If you need to talk about it, you talk about it.”
“… And if the Los Angeles Lakers on day one get better every single day, I’m very confident that come April, we will be a championship-caliber team. You still have to have a lot of stuff go right, you can’t have a lot go wrong. That’s every single championship team. … You certainly need the stars. But the group matters more than ever. You need six, seven, eight guys who can play minutes deep into the playoffs. The Boston Celtics, the Dallas Mavericks, the Pacers, the Timberwolves. It wasn’t about the individual. It was about the group.”
