Coming into the 2019-20 NBA season, one of the biggest questions about the Los Angeles Lakers was how the team would gel.
Despite the talent, there were a lot of new pieces coming together for the first time and it takes a while for everything to come together.
These Lakers have been an aberration as the team chemistry has been outstanding. LeBron James and Anthony Davis work perfectly together and everyone else — from JaVale McGee and Danny Green to Rajon Rondo, Alex Caruso, and Dwight Howard — have accepted and thrived in their roles.
The recent run by the Golden State Warriors was a great example of how things can go when team chemistry is ideal. McGee was a part of two championship teams in Golden State and compared this Lakers team favorably to what he experienced there, according to Kyle Goon of Orange County Register:
“I feel like it’s a conglomerate of guys who really just know what we’re here for, and what’s going on,” he said recently. “And we haven’t won together. (The Warriors) were together for five, six years. So they had a habit. For this to be our first year, this is impressive.”
McGee brings up a good point in that the Warriors core players — namely Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green, and head coach Steve Kerr — had been together for a long time. Adding Kevin Durant obviously changed the dynamics, but everyone worked together well and accepted their roles.
For the Lakers to accomplish this in such a short time is truly amazing and a testament to the leadership in place. Head coach Frank Vogel deserves a good deal of credit for getting the team to buy into the system and putting his players in the best positions to succeed. Credit also goes to James and Davis for leading the way with their unselfish play.
Though it is a long season, everyone being on the same page will help the Lakers get through the rougher patches of the year.
Often times, teams can begin to splinter and separate when things get tough and that will surely come at some point this season. However, they are well suited to traverse through that and uplift each other as they fight towards their championship goal.
