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Things have officially gotten real for the Los Angeles Lakers. With Thursday night’s loss to Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Co., the Lake Show renewed its status as the only club in the Association to have lost a game to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Along the way, Anthony Davis suffered a sprained thumb that could cause him to miss time. That injury occurred as LeBron James was already out with an abdominal strain. And, all the while, Russell Westbrook is shooting just 26.3% from deep and 62.9% from the charity stripe while also struggling defensively.
Bad times, indeed, but has anything really changed where the Lakers’ playoff hopes or title aspirations are concerned? One former NBA champion turned league analyst — Brian Scalabrine — says no. As he sees it, Los Angeles just needs to be in the middle of the West’s playoff pecking order to pose a threat.
He and his radio co-host also spoke out on James’ ability to capture a fifth MVP trophy.
Isola: LeBron Could Make a Play for MVP If He plays Enough
While discussing the latest happenings from around the Association on their SiriusXM NBA show, The Starting Lineup, Scalabrine and co-host/hoops scribe Frank Isola found their way to the topic of the Lakers, James’ MVP candidacy and the club’s current pursuit of the title.
Where James capturing the league’s highest individual honor was concerned, Isola opined that the King will be in the mix as long as he actually stays on the floor.
“I have a feeling [James’ injury] is a week and [if] he plays the rest of the season; he’ll obviously be right in contention [for MVP],” he said. “But he’s just at that stage of his career where I think it’s unrealistic — and maybe in some ways unfair — to think that he’s going to make it to 75 to 82 games.
“All the minutes that he’s played, the miles on his legs, all the playoff games that he’s played — it’s unrealistic to think that he’s capable of doing that.”
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Follow Heavy on Lakers!Scalabrine: Lakers Would Be Fine as a Sixth Seed
At that point in the conversation, Scalabrine jumped in with his own take on James’ minutes. As he sees it, racking up mileage during the regular season isn’t part of his or the Lakers’ current agenda.
“No, and I don’t think he looks at it like ‘I’ve got to play 70 games’,” he said. “I think he looks at it like, ‘I just got to be ready for the playoffs.'”
Where that becomes a dicey proposition is the scenario where James is out for an extended period and the losses begin to mount for the Lakers. For his part, though, Scalabrine doesn’t see that being within the realm of possibility for the team as currently constructed.
“I can’t imagine that these guys would be, like, in the play-in game or out of the playoffs, right? Where LeBron has to play to get these guys there,” he said. “I look at it, like, for all the Lakers it has nothing to do with trying to win every single game throughout the regular season. It’s about playing your best ball at the end and everyone being relatively healthy.
“If they’re a sixth seed, they’re looking really good in the playoffs.”
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