We might be playing some games at the UCLA Health Training Facility or where the South Bay Lakers play
Wouldn't be fair for the West teams not to play the weaker Leastern Conf teams the same amount of games as usual
Part of the attraction of the league is seeing other stars. If you see the same 150 players all year, you will be more likely to tune out. The NBA didn't botch it. They probably nailed it like they usually do. Overall, you have to give the NBA major props for doing things the right way in pretty much every facet of running the league.
This radical condensing of the off season sucks for the players but is AWESOME for us fans. 5 tongues as opposed to Amazon's 5 star buyer ratings.
Is it me or didn’t we just win a Chip and cry happy tears honoring Kobe like 2 weeks ago? Training camp today, already? Wow. 2020... Jokes aside...I think we had a HUGE advantage in the Bubble, and some luck. 1. Bron (and Green) getting 3 months off before a playoff push. Coming off a season where he didn’t play into June (though Danny did). Imagine if Kobe had that sort of break in 2009, 10, or 11?? Just came back to play 25 games or so after months off for those knees and fingers. 2. Not having to play in Portland, Houston, or Denver. HUGE!! All of those series would have gone longer, especially if the Lakers lost both Game 1s (like they did) and had to travel to Portland and Houston tied. Major pressure. 3. Miami was a good team - demolished the Bucks. But also a tired and limited team, going through the Bucks (even with Giannis hurt) and Celts. And to have Dragic, Leonard and Bam hurt...Kind of like how the Raps won it - no KD and Klay and Boogie were hurt all but one game, and STILL took 6 to win. 4. Avoided the Clips - I know they choked, but they were built to beat Bron and would have been more focused. The team that faced the Heat would have been gassed too, under normal circumstances. Are the Lakers better than last year, yes, on paper. Bron is older. But key help is younger. Chemistry??? I worry. And Davis needs to play tougher. No fans still helps the Lakers - given how tough it is to play in Utah, Por, SA, Houston, etc. Defending champs. But I think this will be a tough season and we will see a bunch of early losses - wine, moan, complain thread... Just need to stay healthy. Record doesn’t matter as much...but with fans back in for the June and July playoffs...the Lakers will have a much much harder time getting back to the Championship, esp if Denver has home court advantage and Giannis or KD are waiting for whoever comes through the West. In short, let’s not count chickens. Expect some bumps and trials.
What the HELL. Those Christmas games matchups are so weird. I'm not sure why they chose some of those games (likely COVID-related) but what the hell? Pelicans vs Heat has no history.. Should've been Pelicans vs Hornets, Ball vs Ball. Heat vs Lakers is an automatic. You always do Finals rematch for Christmas. Bucks vs Warriors... why? Should've been Warriors vs Nets.. Bucks should play the C Bags or Philly. Mavericks.. I have no idea why they are playing the Lakers. It should be Portland vs Mavericks. Clippers vs Nuggets is the only game that makes sense. Heat vs Lakers Pelicans vs Hornets Bucks vs Philly or C Bags Nets vs Warriors Clippers vs Nuggets Those five games would've been much better...
