Los Angeles Lakers will be favorites in 2021, but could they repeat as champs?
By Criss Partee
The Los Angeles Lakers will be favorites, but could they repeat in 2021
After a tempestuous, and at times mercurial stint in their Orlando bubble, the NBA finally completed its 2019-20 season Sunday night, when they crowned the Los Angeles Lakers as the 2020 NBA Finals Champions. Now the only question left to ask is…can they do it again?
Currently, the Lakers are favored (+375) to repeat as NBA Champions next season, the Action Network. The LA Clippers aren’t far behind (+425) and the Milwaukee Bucks (+650) and Golden State Warriors (+750) the top 4 favorites.
Congratulations are in order first for the Lakers organization who just won its 17th NBA championship, tying them with the Celtics for the most championships in NBA history.
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But is it too early to ask if they can do it again? Some people will say no, and especially not in the eyes of the future odds as mentioned above.
There is the camp out there with those that feel LeBron James and the Lakers got a few breaks along the way, throughout the entire season. Having over a four-month break towards the end of an already lengthy NBA season in which James turned 35, only to return under much scrutiny, then receiving another unscheduled break due to the players walking out in a social justice stance over the shooting of Jacob Blake, many feel like this season and all its twists and turns only stood to help improve the Lakers’ chances of winning it all.
Let us not forget the tragic deaths of Lakers great Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna in January, that this Lakers team used as motivation and dedicated this season and championship run to as well. After the crazy tumultuous year that 2020 has been, it really is something to ponder, but this tragedy happened during 2020 as well.
Then there are some basketball peeps who feel the Lakers got lucky in the playoffs dodging the bad matchup bullet, that would have been the Clippers in the Western Conference Finals, then being rewarded with facing the Denver Nuggets instead.
However you choose to dissect this one, LeBron James is now a four-time NBA champion, four-time Finals MVP, and is taking home Finals MVP with a third team, something that had never been accomplished before.
As for whether they can repeat next season, there will be numerous factors that could affect their chances in either positive or negative ways.
What offseason moves will they make, who stays and who leaves, can they add even more depth to the bench, do Rajon Rondo and Dwight Howard want to run it back again?
One thing we do know is that after winning the championship which is the first for Lakers forward Anthony Davis, there should be no doubts among Lakes faithful that Davis will be returning to the team next season.
Davis has a $28 million player option for the 2021 season, though he is expected to stay in the City of Angels, and after winning his first ‘chip you’d be hard-pressed to find many reasons for him to split and leave town.
With James being in the twilight of his career, there looks to be plenty of motivation for the Lakers to bring the band back intact next season in hopes of making another run to the NBA Finals. The road may not be as rocky, though the challenges along the way maybe even tougher.
A revamped and retooled Clippers squad will be out for redemption after being eliminated in the second round of the playoffs by the Nuggets. The sleeping giants of 2020 should be back and fully healthy in 2021, as the Warriors look to bounce back led by Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The Warriors also hold the No. 2 overall pick in the NBA draft and could very well trade that pick for a veteran player to bring in for another playoff run next season.
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While the season has just ended it is exciting to look forward and think about what awaits the NBA heading into 2021. It will be interesting to see what moves are made and to see what the Lakers look like in 2021, along with whether or not they can navigate through the West again, in route to hoisting up the Larry O’Brien trophy for a second straight season.