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A Los Angeles Lakers elimination from the first round, at the hands of the Minnesota Timberwolves, had Steve Nash and LeBron James thinking.
However, Nash was straightforward about how Los Angeles was outmatched by Minnesota.
“You got to push buttons, you got to try things,” Nash said. “The coaches have a feeling of what’s going on, where the team is at, where the desperation is. The reality is that they had a more complete roster at this stage of the story.
“So, for you guys to win, you have to play above your level always. Right, you have to make shots at a high clip, you have to take care of the basketball, but it just didn’t happen.
The Lakers were the higher seed, they finished the season as the #3 Seed in the West at 50-32. Meanwhile, the Timberwolves finished as the #6 Seed at 49-33.
There was not a huge difference, but Nash, while it may be true, is talking about it as if the Lakers were the lower-seeded underdogs to start the series.
After all, Minnesota swept the Phoenix Suns in the 2024 playoffs and went to the Western Conference Finals. They have the experience and capitalized.
Steve Nash gets real with LeBron James about Lakers' struggles
After Nash's comments, James responded with his thoughts.
“That’s what we talked about, you’re right, Steve, we just talked about that, the possession game,” James said. “We lost the possession game in the series, and the possession game came down to offensive rebounds, turnovers, and loose balls.
“They were a more complete team than we were.”
Even though the Lakers traded for Luka Doncic, they weren't as deep as Minnesota was at all positions. Los Angeles had the superstar talent, but not the totality of an elite roster.
The Lakers' trio of James, Doncic, and Austin Reaves is as strong of trio as you can find in the NBA. They still lost without much of a fight to the T-Wolves in five games.
To put the icing on the bad cake, James suffered an MCL injury in the Lakers' Game 5. Even if they won that game, the recovery was four to six weeks long.
At the end of the day, Nash wasn't afraid to tell James what he and the Lakers needed to hear. Heading into next season, adding depth could be an instrumental part in their success.
They have the three of Reaves, Doncic, and James. Now, it's about adding more pieces around them to make them more complete.
