LOS ANGELES — Before the Lakers even had held an official practice this season, let alone played in a game, LeBron James told his teammates they reminded him of another veteran group led by an aging legend: Tom Brady’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Brady’s Bucs lost their first game together in the quarterback’s first season away from the New England Patriots and were just 7-5 overall before they caught fire. After winning the final four games of the regular season, Tampa Bay went 4-0 in the postseason, capped by a 31-9 win in Super Bowl LV over the favored Kansas City Chiefs.
James believed the Lakers — who traded for Russell Westbrook in the offseason and added a handful of accomplished vets such as Carmelo Anthony, Dwight Howard, DeAndre Jordan and Trevor Ariza to the mix — would be in store for a similar ride.
During a player-organized voluntary minicamp in Las Vegas in September, James shared the prediction with his new teammates.
Anthony, after Lakers practice on Tuesday, said it was an apt comparison.
“Just from the standpoint of starting off slow and having new guys on the team. New system. Guys trying to figure it out, guys trying to figure out how to play with LeBron and [Anthony Davis] and now incorporating Russ and just now everybody figuring out what their role is,” he told reporters on a video conference call. “And what made it beautiful for the Bucs is that once it came together, it came together and you saw what happened with that.”
The Lakers reached the midway point of the season on Sunday when they lost 127-119 to the Memphis Grizzlies in a game they trailed by as many as 29 points. At 21-20, L.A. is currently the No. 7 seed in the Western Conference.
“It was just kind of preparing ourselves for whatever happens, whatever comes along,” Anthony said. “I think we were, I don’t want to say prepared for those [difficult] moments and those times mentally and emotionally, but yeah, those were conversations that were happening.”
Lakers backup guard Wayne…
Source : espn
