Only 27 games into the season, the Lakers have already had plenty of ups and downs, but thanks to their chemistry, they haven’t folded.
The NBA season still has more games ahead of it than behind, but the Lakers have already had their fair share of ups and downs.
The In-Season Tournament title is the high and the lows have been plentiful.
You could choose the unfortunate amount of injuries, the poor 3-point shooting, or the current run the team is on, losing three of their last four.
Despite these challenges, Austin Reaves discussed why the team hasn’t allowed it to break their chemistry.
“I think it’s just the genuineness of caring for one another,” Reaves said following a tough loss against the Knicks. “Enjoying being around one another and that’s really it. Any time you, regardless of what you do in life, if you like the people that you go to work with, you’re going to enjoy it. That really starts there and then that trickles onto the court. If you care about one another, you want to compete and give it everything you’ve got for every possession for the guys you’re playing with.”
Chemistry is so hard to quantify. You know it when you see it and when it’s bad, it’s impossible to hide. Last season, we saw moments where Russell Westbrook and Darvin Ham had heated exchanges and the season before that, Dwight Howard and Anthony Davis had a very big fight on the bench in the middle of a game against the Suns.
Both moments demonstrated how issues on the court were bubbling off of it and how broken those teams and rosters were.
While the Lakers have struggled to string together wins, it’s refreshing to know that inside the locker room, they are getting along. We haven’t had any explosions on the bench or during games between one another, and when things are going well, you can see players on the bench celebrating dunks and doing the ‘freeze’ celebration at every made 3-pointer.
With Gabe Vincent soon to return, the team will be the healthiest it’s been all season. With all the key rotation players available combined with the camaraderie of this team, perhaps we can see the Lakers fall into a groove and rise as true contenders in the West.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88.