Lakerholics

While Lakers fans should celebrate the joy of seeing their team crowned as NBA champions, they should be just as excited about the expansion of their team’s championship window and the opportunity for another dynasty.

No disrespect to Giannis and the Bucks; Kawhi, PG, and the Clippers; Steph, Klay, and the Warriors; or KD, Kyrie, and the Nets, but LeBron, AD, and the Lakers are the ones poised to dominate over the next five years of the NBA. Underestimated and underappreciated, the Lakers not only survived the loss of fans and home court advantage and rigors of the bubble but thrived on the pressure and clearly proved they were the best team in the league.

The Lakers’ dominating championship run proved this team possesses the five keys that transformed previous Los Angeles title teams into dynasties: best point guard, center, coach, general manager, and owner in the league. LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Frank Vogel, Rob Pelinka, and Jeanie Buss are modern reincarnations of storied Lakers’ Hall of Famers Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Phil Jackson, Jerry West, and Dr. Jerry Buss.

While that might seem preposterous at first glance, the playoffs definitely showed the Lakers not only have the two best superstars and deepest roster in the league but are in a position to make moves to be even better. Quibble all you want, the Lakers dominated every round of the playoffs, beating the Portland Blazers, Houston Rockets, and Denver Nuggets four games to one and the Eastern Conference champs Heat four games to two.

For those who opine the Lakers had an easier path to the Finals because the Clippers and Bucks couldn’t handle the loss of home court advantage and stress of the bubble, remember the Lakers won despite those challenges. But let’s look closer at why LeBron James, Anthony Davis, Frank Vogel, Rob Pelinka, and Jeanie Buss were the keys to the 2020 NBA Championship and why they have the Lakers once again on the verge of another dynasty:

1. LeBron James is still the best player and not slowing down.

After winning his fourth NBA championship and unanimous Finals MVP, there’s no longer any question 35-year old LeBron James is still the best player in the league and is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon. The level at which LeBron’s been playing leads many analysts to project he could easily continue to play until he is 40-years old, which means the Lakers’ championship window is much wider than originally thought.

LeBron’s on a mission to become the GOAT and now only needs to win two more NBA championships to tie Michael Jordan. As long as he stays healthy, the Lakers will be the unanimous favorites to win more championships.

2. Anthony Davis is now the best center and still not in his prime.

27-year old Anthony Davis’ elite performances during the playoffs have already elevated him to be the second best player in the league and obvious heir apparent as the best player on the planet once LeBron James retires. What’s even scarier for Lakers’ opponents is Davis is not even close to reaching his prime, is an unstoppable offensive player and the league’s best defensive player, and has no equal as the prototype modern NBA center.

Anthony Davis not only gives the Lakers the power of having league’s top two superstars and a bridge to greatness after LeBron retires but also the possibility of becoming an even better team as he reaches his prime.

3. Frank Vogel outcoached everybody with a flawed roster.

Frank Vogel may not have been the Lakers’ first choice as head coach but he’s transformed a flawed roster that lacked a reliable third scorer, second playmaker, and elite 3-point shooting into a dominant championship team. He accomplished that by leveraging the defensive talent of Anthony Davis and LeBron James and getting everybody on the team to totally buy in to a defense first mentality that powered the Lakers’ championship success.

Vogel’s mix of strong interpersonal skills and savvy technical expertise enabled him to gain the trust and confidence of LeBron and AD and give the Lakers a championship caliber foundation, culture, and chemistry.

4. Rob Pelinka built the best roster with options to get better.

Just as Frank Vogel was disrespected in the voting for COY, Rob Pelinka was ignored in the voting for EOY. But the Lakers’ championship has pundits rethinking the importance of Rob Pelinka’s role in the Lakers’ dominance. Pelinka was the not only the architect behind trading for AD but also the savvy builder of a veteran championship roster of unlikely contributors like Rajon Rondo, Dwight Howard, and Markieff Morris on a limited budget.

As reigning NBA champions, Pelinka has the Lakers perfectly positioned not only to make major upgrades to the current roster but also to have cap space after the next season to sign a third superstar to join LeBron and AD.

5. Jeanie Buss showed everybody she knows how to win.

Success or failure in any business or organization starts and ends with the boss and Jeanie Buss has shown with her decision to give the reigns of the Lakers’ franchise to Rob Pelinka she was the right choice to run the Lakers. The collaborative imprint she’s made on entire Lakers’ organization has turned what had been called dysfunction and disarray into competence and confidence and restored the franchise to its rightful place atop the NBA.

Jeanie has a long way to go to match her dad’s legacy as an owner but she shares his total commitment to winning that created the Magic and Kareem and Kobe and Shaq dynasties and could lead to a LeBron and AD dynasty.

In a league where traditional centers have been devalued and the Lakers’ tag team of JaVale McGee and Dwight Howard has been the exception, the time may have finally come for Frank Vogel to embrace the modern center.

In today’s NBA, traditional centers whose only job is to protect the rim and dunk the ball have become dinosaurs who can be played off the court by modern centers who’re more mobile and athletic and can shoot the three. Frank Vogel’s been on a mission to prove the Lakers can still win with a traditional center anchoring his defense and protecting the rim and he’s been able to pull it off for the most part up until he got to the playoffs.

Vogel’s conviction defense starts with protecting the rim and Anthony Davis’ preference to play the four to avoid the physical banging of playing the five have definitely been major factors in the Lakers playing traditional centers. But these playoffs have taught the Lakers playing a quicker and faster power forward who can defend and shoot the three like Markieff Morris alongside Davis at center can work and make them better offensively and defensively.

The playoffs have exposed traditional centers as liabilities on both ends of the court. Offensively, their presence in the paint and lack of gravity on the perimeter make it easy for defenses to pack the paint and protect the rim. Defensively, their inability to guard the perimeter makes them vulnerable against teams with centers who can stretch the floor and their lack of speed and mobility makes them easy prey for smaller players hunting switches.

While the Lakers played JaVale McGee or Dwight Howard at center 74% of the time during the regular season, those numbers dropped dramatically to 52% for the first three rounds of the playoffs and to only 29% for the Finals. Since McGee did not play and Howard posted a team worst defensive rating of 135.7 in last night’s game, it’s highly likely the Lakers will opt not to play either of their traditional centers in tomorrow night’s Finals Game 6.

In many ways, the evolution of the center position for Frank Vogel and the Lakers this season has been a microcosm of the center revolution that has taken over the modern NBA in the wake of the ascension of the 3-point shot. The Lakers are fortunate that they have the perfect prototype of the modern NBA center in Anthony Davis. What they need to figure out going forward is who would be the ideal front court partner to optimize and protect Davis.

Re-signing Morris is going to be important and there are matchups like Jokic where a physical defender like Dwight Howard could be critical, although he may be offered more as a free agent than the Lakers could be willing to pay. The Lakers may prefer to re-sign DeMarcus Cousins, who would give the Lakers a true stretch five and whom Anthony Davis loved playing with when both were on the Pelicans, than bringing back Dwight Howard.

The Lakers might also prioritize pursuing a young power forward/center like Christian Wood or Myles Turner, who would better complement Anthony Davis and catapult the Lakers’ offense and defense into the modern NBA. Wood or Turner would not only give the Lakers a starting lineup with five players who can shoot the three ball and defend the perimeter but also the two bigs Vogel’s alway preferred to anchor the defense and protect the rim.

Despite the need for a playmaker, the Lakers’ priority this offseason should be to replace their traditional centers with modern centers who would complement Anthony Davis and revolutionize their offense and defense.

The long and winding road leading to the NBA championship has never been longer or more winding than it was this in this crazy unprecedented year, which will make it that much sweeter when the Lakers win it all.

Never has winning the championship been more of a challenge than this year with the China controversy, the tragic death of Kobe Bryant, the season suspension for coronavirus, and seeding games and playoffs in the bubble. Never has the league been forced to play games in empty arenas without fans, run a special play-in tournament for the 8th playoff slot, or schedule a full slate of playoff games at a neutral site with no home court advantage.

This will be a championship that will catapult LeBron James back into the GOAT conversation, Anthony Davis into the lead as the Best Player on the Planet, and the Lakers past the Celtics as the greatest franchise in the NBA. It’ll also be the championship that celebrates the greatness of Kobe Bryant, launches the beginning of the LeBron James and Anthony Davis era, and sets the stage for the Los Angeles Lakers to build their next dynasty.

It will be the title that confirms LeBron James was the ‘real’ Most Valuable Player, Anthony Davis the ‘real’ Defensive Player of the Year, Frank Vogel the ‘real’ Coach of the Year, and Rob Pelinka the ‘real’ Executive of the Year. It will be redemption for Jeanie Buss as the Lakers’ owner and for Rajon Rondo, Kyle Kuzma, Dwight Howard, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Alex Caruso, Markieff Morris, Danny Green, and Avery Bradley as players.

It will be the championship we will never ever forget, that restores the Lakers back to the pinnacle of the NBA and positions them once again to be the premier franchise for whom every player in the league wants to play. It’ll open doors for the Lakers to become an even better team next year and the opportunity to build a sustainable championship dynasty with the NBA’s leading players competing to be signed by or traded to Los Angeles.

Winning this championship will be the greatest achievement in LeBron James’ career and the most important championship in the Lakers’ storied history. It’s the championship that will change everything for the Lakers.

The Lakers’ march to the NBA championship has seen an evolution in Frank Vogel’s coaching philosophy as he’s embraced small ball lineups not only to create better spacing on offense but also speed and quickness on defense.

For a veteran coach who started and played two bigs the entire regular season, the transformation has been remarkable and one of the big reasons why the Lakers are on the verge of winning their 17th NBA championship. The metamorphosis has turned the Lakers into a juggernaut that’s rolled through the playoffs without losing more than a single game in any series and dramatically changed the team’s offseason roster building priorities.

Vogel’s embrace of small ball in these playoffs has shown the Lakers why a traditional defensive oriented shot-blocking center is not the only way to protect the rim and keep superstar Anthony Davis from getting beaten up. The speed, quickness, mobility, and athleticism of small ball lineups allows the Lakers to fight through pick-and-rolls, rotate faster after double teams, and more aggressively challenge shots on the perimeter and at the rim.

The time the Lakers played small ball can easily be measured by the time traditional centers McGee or Howard were not on the floor. During the regular season, the Lakers played small ball for just 12.5 minutes per game. That number has jumped dramatically in the playoffs where the Lakers played small ball for 21.7 minutes per game. In the Finals, the Lakers have almost abandoned going big, played small ball for 34.4 minutes per game.

To put those numbers in perspective, the more important the games have became, the more small ball the Lakers have played, averaging 26% of the time in the regular season, 45% in the playoffs, and finally 72% in the Finals. While matchups and McGee’s poor play certainly influenced Vogel’s decision on how much small ball to play, there’s also no question the elite play of the Lakers’ small ball lineups has forced coach Vogel to rethink the issue.

Ironically, the 34.4 minutes per game and 72% of the time the Lakers have played small ball in the NBA Finals is even greater than the 32.7 minutes and 68% of the time they played small against the diminutive Houston Rockets. Playing small ball 72% of the time against a Heat team with an All-Star and All-Defensive center Bam Adebayo, who was guarded by LeBron James and Markieff Morris as Anthony Davis defended Jimmy Butler, is remarkable.

The transformation from two traditional bigs to small ball lineups with Anthony Davis at the five is likely to continue this offseason. Re-signing Markieff Morris may be more important than re-signing Dwight Howard. McGee’s tenure with the Lakers may be over. We may see renewed interest by the Lakers in modern centers like DeMarcus Cousins, Serge Ibaka and Myles Turner and who can both stretch the floor and protect the rim

As the Lakers take the court in their Black Mamba jerseys this Friday night looking to close out the Miami Heat and the NBA Finals in five games, Frank Vogel may go all-in on small ball by starting Morris instead of Howard.

No disrespect to the Milwaukee Bucks’ Giannis Antetokounmpo or the Toronto Raptors’ Nick Nurse for great regular season performances but the ‘Real’ MVP, DPOY, and COY are always determined in the NBA playoffs.

While LeBron James or Anthony Davis will win Finals MVP, the dubious logic that enables biased media prematurely crown the best defensive player and best coach before the games that really matter happen should be changed. Were the votes for the NBA’s best defender and coach taken after their championship caliber performances in the playoffs, there’s no question Anthony Davis would have easily won as DPOY and Frank Vogel as COY.

There’s something inherently dishonest and unfair about awarding defensive player of the year and coach of the year awards that didn’t include the most important part of the year, which is the second season or playoffs. What’s even more frustrating is the voting for the awards is completely the prerogative of the media, many of whom are fundamentally biased, inherently unqualified, and often don’t even watch games.

Most objective experts who closely watched and followed the regular NBA season didn’t need to watch the Lakers’ dominant playoff performances to know LeBron James was the ‘real’ MVP and Anthony Davis the ‘real’ DPOY. They could have just listened to the players and coaches themselves, who clearly understood, while Giannis Antetokounmpo may have had a great season, LeBron James and Anthony Davis deserved to win the awards.

While the playoffs showed James and Davis deserved the MVP and DPOY awards, Vogel did need four playoff rounds of brilliant defensive coaching moves shutting down superstars to prove he deserved the COY award. There’s no question Nick Nurse is an elite NBA head coach but, like Mike Budenholzer last year, his winning ignored the savvy decision making and adjustments needed to win in the intense pressure of the playoffs.

The NBA playoffs are where regular season pretenders are separated from the legitimate contenders, where it became crystal clear LeBron James was the ‘real’ MVP, Anthony Davis the ‘real’ DPOY, and Frank Vogel the ‘real’ COY. The league either needs to postpone voting on DPOY and COY until after the playoffs or create a seperate awards for best defender and coach in the playoffs. They also need to include players and coaches in the voting.

While the bubble exposed Giannis Antetokounmpo and Kawhi Leonard as MVP and DPOY candidates and Mike Budenholzer and Nick Nurse as COY candidates, LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Frank Vogel shone bright. When the chips were down and legacies on the line, it was LeBron rallying the Lakers, Anthony Davis shutting down Miami’s Jimmy Butler, and the Lakers’ Frank Vogel out coaching the Heat’s strategic genius Erik Spoelstra.

The sad and unfortunate reality in today’s NBA is LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Frank Vogel have a major disadvantage in the NBA awards competition because they’re on the same team and that team is the Lakers. The NBA’s not going to change the requirements for MVP, DPOY, or COY, allow players and coaches to vote, or reward the best defender or coach in the playoffs but that’s not going to stop me from expressing my opinion.

The Lakerholics.Com Most Valuable Player is LeBron James, Defensive Player of the Year is Anthony Davis, and Coach of the Year is Frank Vogel. The trophy for their accomplishments will be the 2020 NBA Championship.