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LOS ANGELES – They’ve had less than two months to rest, followed by a three-week training camp and four preseason games.
But on Tuesday the Los Angeles Lakers will kick off their first game as defending NBA champions when they host the Los Angeles Clippers.
It’s no wonder players like LeBron James are talking about the season being a marathon, not a sprint, as they try to prepare mentally and physically for the start of an unprecedented 72-game season during a global pandemic in which the NBA will play. . out of a bubble for the first time.
“It’s been a different training ground, to say the least,” James said. “But for the time we’ve had, which hasn’t been that long, I feel like we’ve made an effort and improved.
“Obviously, we are not where we want to be in the long term, but that’s absolutely fine, because it’s a long season, it’s a long journey. But I think to the boys’ credit we’ve gotten better as the days go by. ”
Big favorites to repeat as NBA champions, the Lakers’ biggest opponent could be themselves.
Several players rightly missed a basketball during the team’s two-month hiatus after winning the championship in October in the Orlando bubble.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic protocols implemented by the NBA will affect which players are available during the season, creating an unpredictable situation for head coach Frank Vogel as to which players are available nightly. Players like James, Anthony Davis and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope are still working on game form, and they will have to do so in the regular season.
“Not only do we have the shortest offseason, but you’re coming out of an environment where you were in a bubble for 3 1/2 months,” Vogel said. “So, you have to get over that mentally first. And then you have to start thinking about how to prepare your body and mind for the next season.
“So it’s not an offseason where you’re saying I want to add certain things to my game. It’s really about trying to refresh your mind, keep your body in shape, maintain your skills, and then go back and get to work. … We have tried to give everyone a kind of individual plan of what works best for them. We are all just trying to make the most of it. We’re going to have some unpleasant moments early in the season as a result of that, and that’s the nature of what we’re going through. ”
Because some guys are still out of shape, soft tissue muscle injuries, such as hamstring strains, could be more common earlier in the year.
The Lakers already have players dealing with nagging injuries to Caldwell-Pope (hip), Alex Caruso (hip) and Dennis Schröder (ankle). Add to that the fact that everyone in the league would like to hit the defending champs when purple and gold appear in the arena.
“I’m running out of breath,” Caldwell-Pope said of the preseason game. “But it’s going to take time to get back on track, especially the pace of the game, running up and down the court. We had a short offseason trying to recover from the bruises or injuries we had from last season. We didn’t have time to try to take care of our bodies, because we had to go back to work.
“I feel like we will only try to handle it day by day. Even in practice or games and you feel something, you don’t want to force it. And just take care. ”
The salvation of the Lakers? They seem to have recreated that winning, selfless culture that propelled them to a championship last season. Collectively, the Lakers played hard primarily on the defensive side of the court during a 4-0 preseason, throwing themselves to the ground after fumbles, hitting the backboard hard, sharing the basketball and showing stamina in two, comeback wins during the exhibition game – basically finding inspiration to win games that didn’t really matter.
That could be bad for the rest of the NBA.
“We know championships are the Holy Grail in this league,” James said. “And being crowned champion or multiple champion, that’s what it’s all about.”
