Most people consider the Los Angeles Lakers legitimate championship contenders this season after a flurry of moves they have made over the past nine months.
They started by trading for Rui Hachimura, D’Angelo Russell and Jarred Vanderbilt. They continued their fine work in July by extending Hachimura, Russell, Vanderbilt, Austin Reaves and Anthony Davis. Los Angeles also brought in free agents Jaxson Hayes, Gabe Vincent, Taurean Prince, Christian Wood and Cam Reddish for depth.
Buy Lakers TicketsMany believe the Lakers had an excellent offseason. However, executives around the league aren’t feeling the same optimism the team has regarding its title hopes.
In an annual survey of NBA general managers, none of them — that’s right, zero — picked the Lakers to win the world championship. They did get the third-most votes as far as who would win the Western Conference, but they only received 3% the of first-place votes.
It was reminiscent of the annual survey prior to the 2019-20 season, when only 7% of GMs said the Lakers would win it all. Of course, the Purple and Gold ended up claiming the Larry O’Brien Trophy that season.
LeBron James did get some love from executives in the same poll
In this poll of NBA executives, a wide array of questions were asked. Lakers superstar LeBron James didn’t get any votes for the MVP award, and he finished only third in the polling for the best passer in the league and fourth in the polling for the best small forwards.
However, he did get the most votes — 27% — for being the best leader in the league, just edging Golden State Warriors superstar Stephen Curry. James also came in second in voting for the most versatile player and the player with the highest basketball IQ.
