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Currently ranked in second place in the Western Conference, the Los Angeles Lakers are making their push for the playoffs. They're 28-13 and only 1.5 games behind the first-place Utah Jazz as the top-seeded Jazz continue to falter after the All-Star break. Although the first seed is given home-court advantage throughout the playoffs, it appears that's not the most important thing for LeBron James and the Lakers.
In fact, James is on record claiming two more things that are more important than ending the season in first place:
LeBron asked about the No. 1 seed:
"If we get to a point where we can capture it, why not, but we haven’t talked about it all year.”
The two most important things, he said: being healthy, and playing championship level basketball.
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) March 19, 2021
This mindset seems to have reached LeBron's teammates as well, as even Alex Caruso chimes in with his take:
Caruso said the Lakers are of course always trying to win, but they’re not watching the standings.
"Our goal isn’t to finish the regular season first in the West, it’s to win a championship."
— Mike Trudell (@LakersReporter) March 19, 2021
With the entire Lakers team buying into this mentality, this shows Los Angeles is preparing themselves for a deep playoff run, no matter what seed they wind up with.
We've seen this mentality before in the NBA, as a common expression for the postseason is “records don't matter.” The goal is to make the postseason, and once a team is there, it's anyone's game. The most determined team will find a way to win.
This is reminiscent of LeBron James' teams in the past, as well as the San Antonio Spurs during their prime with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. Those Spurs teams were famously known for not caring about the seeding of the playoffs. The goal was simply to make it to the postseason, then win a championship.
With the Lakers effectively guaranteed a playoff spot this year, the team indeed seems focused on the right things as they continue to find their groove without Anthony Davis. Considering they have LeBron James, plus AD once he returns from injury, this Lakers team is primed for a deep playoff run and are in great shape to repeat as NBA champions.
