Getty LeBron James #6 of the Los Angeles Lakers.
The Los Angeles Lakers had the second-best odds to win the championship before the season started. With LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Russell Westbrook leading the way, the purple and gold were projected to coast through the regular season and rack up one of the best records in the NBA.
However, the Lakers have been a walking disaster this season. They are in ninth place in the Western Conference standings and will likely be in the play-in tournament for the second consecutive season.
If the Lakers enter the play-in tournament as the ninth seed, they would have to win two games to make the playoffs. As it stands, LAL would face the New Orleans Pelicans in the first play-in game. If they win, they would face the loser of the Los Angeles Clippers-Minnesota Timberwolves play-in game. If the Lakers lose to the Pelicans, their season would be over.
Behind LeBron and Davis, the Lakers defeated the Golden State Warriors in the 7-8 play-in game last year. They were the seventh seed in the Western Conference playoffs and lost to the Phoenix Suns in the first round in six games.
The addition of Westbrook was supposed to vault the Lakers to championship status, but they have been so bad this season that Hall of Famer Reggie Miller doesn’t think they’ll even get past the play-in tournament.
Miller: The Lakers Aren’t Good
Miller told Heavy in an exclusive interview that the Lakers probably won’t make the playoffs despite LeBron having a terrific season.
“God bless LeBron, who is having the best season at age 37, but he has zero help, zero. I’m not sure the Lakers even get out of the play-in situation,” Miller told Heavy. “Right now, they’re currently ninth. Let’s just say everything holds true right now. So seven is Minnesota, eight is the Clippers, nine is the Lakers and 10 is New Orleans. So New Orleans would have to come to the Lakers for that one game. New Orleans just beat them in LA a week ago. They were up by like 35.
“But let’s just say the Lakers do win against New Orleans. Now, they’ve gotta play the loser of Minnesota and the Clippers. They will not beat either team. I’m not sure they get out of the play-in situation.”
This isn’t much of a bold take by Miller. The Lakers haven’t beaten the Clippers or Pelicans this season and are 1-2 against the Timberwolves. Even though LeBron is still arguably the best player in the world, like Miller said, he doesn’t have the right pieces around him to win.
Along with talking about the Lakers, Miller spoke about his partnership with Wendy’s, the official breakfast and hamburger of March Madness.
Miller Talks About Wendy’s Deal
It’s March, which can only mean one thing: March Madness is here. The NCAA tournament was canceled last year due to COVID-19, but it’s back this year and college basketball fans are excited for the madness to begin.
One of the neat highlights of March Madness is Miller’s role in it. Not only does he call games for Turner Sports, but he’s also featured in the viral Wendy’s commercials.
Wendy’s has partnered with Miller for a third straight year. The Indiana Pacers legend stars in the brand’s latest campaign and he talked with Heavy about why the partnership appeals so much to him and how much fun he had shooting the commercials.
“I knew after the first one in 2020 that we were on to something,” Miller said. “And Wendy’s came to our team this year and said, ‘Look, the spots have been fantastic, I think we’re gonna raise the bar a little bit. We have a script in mind, but we don’t wanna hold you to it. We want you, along with these fabulous actors, to kind of improv whatever comes out.’ I’m like, ‘Really?!’ I mean, my eyes got so wide.
“So the spots you will see, or have seen, what you see was literally made up right then. … We had so much fun with these spots just coming up with certain things and different things. We wanted to have fun. I thank Wendy’s for believing in me and us to put such a product out there that people would be proud of and we hope they are.”
The NCAA tournament starts on March 13.