ALL TOGETHER NOW
Lakers hope continuity of having six of top seven players from last season takes them further
EL SEGUNDO » After back-toback years of being “a revolving door”, as LeBron James put it, the Lakers meticulously made the roster moves they have over the last 10 months so they could have what they're experiencing going into the 202324 season. Continuity. Connectedness.
A greater sense of familiarity with one another on and off the floor.
“I love the continuity that we
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Today: Lakers at Nuggets, 4:30 p.m., TNT
added to our team, the camaraderie off the floor — all that plays a major role in success in today's basketball,” D'Angelo Russell said after Monday's practice. “A lot of talent. You can compete with some of the best teams, but when it's time to win, lacking that continuity, lacking that camaraderie, lacking that likeliness that you have with our teammates with a year, that builds and adds a lot to the team.
“Not having that is a big factor in winning and losing games and having it now is going to be a big factor in winning and losing games.”
The Lakers won't have to look too far back — or forward — for a reminder of how important continuity can be when it comes to contending for an NBA title.
The Denver Nuggets, who swept the Lakers in last year's Western Conference finals and who the Lakers will open the regular season against tonight at Ball Arena in Colorado, won the NBA championship not only because of the high-end talent they had. But also because of their cohesion and understanding of one another.
When play started to bog down, the Nuggets knew exactly what — and how — to get themselves out of precarious spots in ways only teams who've spent an abundance of time together do.
“That cohesiveness, that camaraderie, that chemistry on the court, definitely helped them,” James said. “We can just learn to be better. We all wanted to be better individually during
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Wednesday: Trail Blazers at Clippers, 7:30p.m., BSSC