OKC Thunder vs. LA Lakers, 2019-20 team preview
Health:
Although LeBron James has been the iron man of the league for most of his career last season the wear and tear of playing in eight consecutive NBA Finals finally caught up to him. His groin injury led to an 18 game absence and an eventual shut down at season end equating to the superstar missing 27 games. To put this in perspective, over his career James had only missed 71 games prior to last season.
Davis is also a player who fairly or not has been labeled with the tag injury prone. Having two superstars allows more options obviously, but if either star misses any significant time it could affect their goals. To that end, unlike the East teams in the West don’t have the privilege of employing a load management program as resting a player too often could easily result in one of the many powerhouse clubs in the West surpassing you and taking away your home court seed.
The LA circus:
Let’s not forget Anthony Davis will be entering this summer with a player option in his contract. That might be a moot point but when you are in LA the media circus is all consuming. Factor in the Lakers doesn’t have the best record for staying out of the drama. Magic Johnson‘s exit late last season highlighting this point.
For the moment LeBron is saying Davis it ‘the guy’ and that everything will run through the Brow. But, will LeBron be able to release his title as the league’s best player so easily? If there are five players being discussed as MVP candidates and LeBron’s name isn’t in the mix can he just stand in the shadows? If he can all will be well, but if his ego is affected and he suddenly is in front of the microphones making sure he’s not forgotten will that have an effect on the duo’s partnership?
Davis for his part is saying he wants to win Defensive Player of the Year and his comments about holding everyone accountable including isolating LeBron.
"“I want to be Defensive Player of the Year,” Davis told Yahoo Sports. “I think if I’m able to do that, I can help this team win. The offensive end will come around, but defensively, I want to hold myself, teammates, including LeBron, accountable in order for us to take on the challenge of being the best we can defensively.”"
For years James has been taking plays off especially during the season, so how will this statement sit with LeBron and more importantly will James bring it all 82 games? This also raises the question of how Frank Vogel will feel if James does take off plays (as the video about showcases).
Coaching and front office dynamics:
If fans weren’t already familiar with GM Sam Pelinka prior to the Magic Johnson comments they are now. There are copious stories that can be pulled up about Pelinka and his ways (said he hooked up Bryant with Heath Ledger for dinner — problem was Ledger died of an overdose). Suffice to say everything Pelinka says should be taken with a grain of salt.
Yet the bigger issue may well lie with coaching. Frank Vogel was hired as the Head Coach but he was not the first choice (Ty Lue) and the job came with caveats – Jason Kidd must be an Assistant Coach. That demand is curious as it seems to be setting up Vogel in the event there are disagreements or issues the team already has an assistant at the ready to replace him.
Let’s not forget, LeBron isn’t a player who takes to being told what to do and has been the driving voice behind several coach firings. In Miami that was never an option because — well — no one tells Pat Riley what to do. James’ hands were all over the David Blatt firing even though he had a winning record. So, how does this play out on the court? Will Vogel be antsy to push his voice, let’s say regarding defense and call out LeBron if he isn’t buying in or playing team defense? It certainly makes for an interesting sidebar narrative to the season.