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LeBron James celebrates with the in-season tournament MVP trophy after the Lakers won the tournament last December. (Jeff Haynes / NBAE via Getty Images)
History and hindsight have made it a little difficult to contextualize what the Lakers accomplished last winter, the team hoisting a trophy and hanging a banner after winning the NBA’s first in-season tournament championship.
On one hand, only the Lakers and the Celtics were able to celebrate as champs last year. On the other, no one inside the Lakers locker room would dare compare the two, the first definitely still a novelty the Lakers would’ve happily traded, prize money and all, for even a longshot chance to win the big title in the spring.
And while the Lakers gladly accepted the hardware and the cash bonus that came with last season’s win, the team lost 10 of its next 13 games — the stretch that set the stage for the team to eventually fire Darvin Ham and the entirety of his coaching staff.
So as the Lakers get set to open their title defense of the NBA Cup Friday in San Antonio with virtually the same roster as a year ago, it’s more than fair to wonder what, if anything, these stretch of games means to them.
Read more: Another LeBron James triple-double leads Lakers to third win in a row
And, like last year, it doesn’t seem to be too tough to figure out.
“We just want the money,” Rui Hachimura said Wednesday with a bit of a chuckle. “I think that’s the one thing we kind of, last year, we were very motivated. We have the big prize.”
Like last year, the Lakers will have to survive group play to advance to the knockout round stage. They’re in a group with the Spurs, the Phoenix Suns, the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Utah Jazz.
And while the extra designation, the special courts and alternate uniforms all reinforce that these games are supposed to be different, Lakers coach JJ Redick said he thinks his players will have “another day at the office” approach.
“I expect our guys to be highly competitive. Said this a number of times last year, you don’t need to give a reason to competitive people to compete,” he said Wednesday after the…
Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/whats-motivating-lakers-nba-cup-181446812.html
Author : LA Times
Publish date : 2024-11-14 18:14:00
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