Lakers News: ESPN Panelists Overlook LA Among List Of Title Hopefuls

Seems like a strange omission here...

As the 2023-24 NBA season gets ready to kick off here soon, the question starts to be asked about who could possibly knock off the defending champion Denver Nuggets. If you were to go by what happened last season, many would say that the Los Angeles Lakers have a good chance considering they played Denver the toughest in the postseason.

However, members of ESPN's NBA writing staff don’t see it that way as none of them listed LA as their team with the best chance to take down the Nuggets.

Fair or not, leaving the Lakers out of this seems wrong. Both they and the Phoenix Suns likely will give the Nuggets all they can handle if they were to meet again in the postseason.

Other teams that were listed include the Milwaukee Bucks, Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors. None of the teams listed are bad answers, but it’s a little surprising that LA wasn’t mentioned by at least one person.

This is a discredit to the Lakers and what they have done over this off-season. Not only did they retain the majority of the players from their Western Conference Finals run, but they upgraded around the edges.

Let’s also not forget that Denver lost some of their role players over the offseason, including Bruce Brown. He was a key member of the title team, and he now plays his home games in the state of Indiana.

The Lakers have built themselves up to take that next step this coming season and to go for another title. As long as LeBron James and Anthony Davis remain healthy, the sky is the limit for this Lakers squad.

The quest for title 18 starts with the Denver Nuggets in the season opener, and the Lakers are hoping that they see them in the playoffs once again. They have some unfinished business to attend to this season, and they want it to go through Denver. 

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