Lakers Given Massive Scheduling Edge This Year

The Los Angeles Lakers will enjoy a significant advantage in one key aspect for 2024-25.

Jan 9, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) celebrates a victory with forward Anthony Davis (3) after defeating the Toronto Raptors at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-USA TODAY Sports / kiyoshi mio-usa today sports

The Los Angeles Lakers are less than a month from the start of training camp. This season should be a highly anticipated one for the Lakers.

These past few regular seasons have been rough for the Lakers, especially at the start of the season. L.A. has struggled to grasp the regular season, and they're hoping it all changes this upcoming one.

While this season will be far from easy, the Lakers will have one advantage over the rest of the league: they will play the fewest back-to-back games of any NBA team. The Lakers will only have 13 back-to-backs this season, two fewer than last season. It's not a significant decrease from last season, but it could be in the long run, especially with the players the Lakers hold with LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

These two players are the oldest on the team, but more importantly, they are the two best players. It starts and ends with Davis and James. This team will go as far as they take them, but they will also rely on the role players to do their job.

The Lakers aren't projected to be a top team in the Western Conference, let alone in the league; however, they still have two superstars, which could help.

Back-to-back games are frequent in the NBA, but the league has done its best to lower than a number over the past few years. The most back-to-backs that the Lakers have had was 20 during the 2010-11 season.

The Lakers will kick off their season against the Minnesota Timberwolves at home on Oct. 22. In the first 19 games of the season, the Lakers will have 10 games at Crypto.com Arena, and they'll look to take advantage of that regardless of their opponent.

This season for the Lakers will be significant for many reasons. For starters, it will be JJ Redick's first season at the helm. Although the hire was a bit of a head-scratcher, Redick was the favorite from the jump, and he ultimately won the job even after the Dan Hurley fiasco. All eyes will be on if Redick is ready for the challenge.

On top of that, this season could be the last for James. He has a player option at the end of the season, and as he enters his age-40 season, it's not crazy to think that it could be his last. There's nothing else for James to prove in his illustrious career but to bring another title to Los Angeles.

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