Despite being one of the most successful franchises in NBA history, it’s been a while since anyone’s feared the Los Angeles Lakers. Lonzo Ball figures to change that starting this season, though, as Tania Ganguli notes for the Los Angeles Times that one of the team’s main goals this season is to make people fear the Lakers.
“We actually met before media day, talked about the goals, got everything out there, fired everybody up. … Have a Lakers mentality. … Basically they said it starts with defense, defensive grit. Challenge one another and then go on the court and make people fear you,” Ball said.
Ball and the Lakers have the potential to strike fear into opposing teams’ hearts with their ability to whip the ball in transition. Ball showed glimpses of that ceiling during summer league, where he was arguably the best player in Las Vegas and ran the show for the Lakers.
However, it could take some time before the Lakers succeed in improving defensively and start winning games on a more consistent basis. The team finished dead-last in the league in terms of defensive efficiency last season, and although they added Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, they likely still lack the talent and the cohesion to be a competent unit on that end of the court.
Ultimately, it’ll be up to the team’s leaders such as Lonzo Ball to set the example for the rest of the team defensively. Only then can they start to close in on their goal of making people fear them.
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