Despite finishing the regular season as the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds, respectively, in the always dangerous Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors will still be forced to square off in one of the four play-in games that will kickoff the 2020-21 NBA Playoffs.
Although many of the players from each franchise are probably none to too pleased with the NBA's new postseason format, considering both teams would already be in the Western Conference's field of eight if not for the presence of the play-in games, basketball fans throughout the globe will continue to rejoice as world will now get a massive showdown between the Lakers and Warriors on Wednesday evening.
As the Warriors continue to pick up steam at the perfect time with the Lakers beginning to regain their health, Wednesday evening's matchup in Los Angeles could very well become one for the ages. Filled to the brim with starpower and featuring two of the more popular franchises in the modern NBA, Lakers-Warriors no doubt has the potential to be an instant classic.
Lakers-Warriors will feature last season's NBA Champion and a team that didn't even get invited to the “NBA bubble”
Although the Golden State Warriors have become synonymous with winning as of late, the heralded Western Conference franchise is now making a return to the playoffs after what many have already forgotten was quite the terrible season in 2019-20. While last season was a tough one for everyone both on the court and away from it, the Warriors were so bad that Golden State wasn't even invited down to Orlando to participate in the NBA's restart. Golden State ended the 2019-20 campaign with a dismal 15-50 record before bouncing back this time around.
On the other hand, despite encountering one of the strangest paths to a title in league history, the Los Angeles Lakers were indeed crowned as NBA Champions in the end. Now looking to defend the team's first title in over a decade, it will be up to superstar forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis, both of which have had their fair share of injury troubles in 2020-21, if Los Angeles is going to do the unthinkable and repeat as NBA Champions from their spot in the play-in tournament.
Lakers-Warriors will feature the last six Western Conference Champions
When the Los Angeles Lakers host the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday evening, the can't-miss NBA showdown will feature the last six Western Conference Champions. The Warriors infamously won five consecutive Western Conference Championships before passing the torch over to the Lakers last season as Golden State missed the playoffs entirely in 2019-20. During that immaculate span, the Warriors notably won three NBA titles.
It is also worth noting that Wednesday evening's matchup in Los Angeles will feature four of the last six NBA Champions in addition to superstar players from five of the last six NBA Champions as Lakers superstar forward LeBron James previously brought a title to the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2016-17…while defeating none other than the Warriors.
Lakers-Warriors will feature not one but two multi-time NBA MVPs
There is no shortage of star power when it comes to the Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors. However, there is something that truly sets this matchup apart even outside of the presence of players like Lakers big man Anthony Davis, center Andre Drummond, forward Kyle Kuzma, point guard Dennis Schroder and Warriors swingman Andrew Wiggins and power forward Draymond Green.
There are two incredibly special players in particular that will make Wednesday evening's matchup one for the ages as Warriors point guard Stephen Curry and Lakers forward LeBron James will go toe-to-toe in a battle of former NBA MVPs. These are not just any former league MVPs, though, as the combination of Curry and James have won a whopping six NBA MVP Awards between them.
Even more interestingly, however, all six have come in back-to-back years. With James' first MVP award coming back in 2008-09, he then won another the following season. James then tallied his most recent honor in 2012-13 while winning the award the year prior as well. As for Curry, he won his back-to-back NBA MVPs in 2014-15 and 2015-16 while making a late case for himself for a third one in 2020-21.
Even though the Lakers and Warriors finished as the No. 7 and No. 8 seeds in the Western Conference as a result of the 2020-21 regular season, there will be all eyes on Los Angeles come Wednesday evening — NBA play-in game or not — due to the tandem of “Chef Curry” and “King James.”
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