NBA news: LeBron James and Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals claim made by expert
LOS ANGELES LAKERS could make it to the Western Conference finals in LeBron James’ first season.
That is the opinion of FOX Sports journalist Colin Cowherd.
The Lakers have had an indifferent start to the season, going 6-6 in their first 12 games.
A recent run of four wins in five has improved the state of affairs in California, with head coach Luke Walton under fire last week.
Lakers president Magic Johnson warned Walton that his he may lose his job should results not improve, but the young coach has revived the side.
Don't count the Lakers out
LeBron James has impressed as talisman so far, leading by example with 27.2 points, 7.5 assists and 8.1 rebounds per game.
With a predominantly young squad at hand, most people wrote off James’ chances of making a ninth straight NBA Finals appearance.
Although he was armoured with a poor Cleveland Cavaliers roster last season, James propelled the Cavs to the wrong side of a finals sweep against the Golden State Warriors.
The Western Conference has been unproportionately stronger than the East in the last five terms, but Cowherd believes the Lakers should not be overlooked when discussing who will make the Western finals.
“The [Houston] Rockets are awful,” Cowherd began on The Herd.
“They lost to Oklahoma City Thunder, who didn’t even have [Russell] Westbrook. And, by the way, OKC won their second game without Westbrook, showing that Westbrook isn’t nearly as valuable as you think.
“Steph Curry has got hurt again for Golden State [Warriors].
"You keep telling me about this Lakers team that we shouldn’t worry about the play-offs… That they have no chance.
“The Lakers are deep and optimistic and long and athletic and third in the NBA in scoring and they’ve got the world’s best player and they’ve got those young guys who are starting to hit their threes.
“Let me again remind you that the Lakers are going into the easy part of their schedule for the next two weeks.”
The Lakers face the Atlanta Hawks, Portland Trail Blazers, Orlando Magic, Miami Heat, Cleveland Cavaliers and Utah Jazz in their next six games.
Speaking of that run, Cowherd continued: ”A lot of wins; a lot of confidence-building wins.
“Curry’s hurt, Rockets are awful, Minnesota [Timberwolves] in turmoil, really trust Jamal Murray and the [Denver] Nuggets? Portland is limited, Westbrook's increasingly hurt, Anthony Davis soon to leave the [New Orleans] Pelicans…
“Don’t count [the Lakers] out - we always do before the trading deadline with LeBron - don’t count them out.”