Getty Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James.
Basketball is officially back as the first scrimmage games in Orlando are taking place. The Los Angeles Lakers are set to play their first action against an opposing team since the lockdown on Thursday and are facing off against the Dallas Mavericks. Though it is just a scrimmage game, this is the first time in a long time we get to see the Lakers playing competitive basketball on the court.
In the grand scheme of things, this first game doesn’t matter a whole lot but in his latest post on Instagram, LeBron James made it very clear that he doesn’t care.
James has been very consistent in calling this NBA reboot his “Revenge Season.” He’s as locked in as ever and obviously chomping at the bit to get back on the court.
James Might Not Play in Scrimmage Games
While James is excited to play, he probably won’t see a lot of time on the court. Head coach Frank Vogel threw some cold water on the idea that James and Anthony Davis will play in all of these scrimmage games.
“I would say it’s unlikely they play all three, but it’s not been decided yet. There’s a chance they do,” Vogel said last week.
It makes sense that the stars would get minutes to knock off some rust, but they can do that in the eight games before the playoffs start. The Lakers pretty much have the one seed in the Western Conference locked up so they won’t be playing important games until the playoff come around. The team will probably keep their stars as rested as possible before the first round of the playoffs.
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James Addresses MVP Race
The way the rest of the NBA season unfolds will have no bearing on the MVP race. The league is basing the votes off everything that happened before the suspension of play. As of now, James and Milwaukee Bucks star Giannis Antetokounmpo are the obvious favorites to bring home the award. James recently had a chance to talk about the MVP race.
“As far as the MVP race, I think I’ve shown what I’m capable doing – not only individually from a team’s perspective, us being number one in the West,” James said on Tuesday. “There was a lot of conversation about, you know, LeBron could do those things in the East, but if he ever came to the West, what could he do?
“I heard all that. To be able to have our team at the top of the Western Conference and playing the way we were playing at that time and the way I was playing, that’s definitely a good feeling.”
Giannis appears to be the favorite but James has a very good case, as well. Regardless of who wins, there are going to be a lot of people questioning the decision.
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