Once again, the Los Angeles Lakers couldn’t get past the first round of the playoffs.
This was the second time in LeBron James’ tenure in Southern California that they failed to win a single postseason series, and it came after they had to go through the Play-In Tournament to reach that stage.
That’s why, as high as the expectations were about this team entering the playoffs, he knew they weren’t the better team in that matchup vs. the defending NBA champions.
Talking to JJ Redick for their ‘Mind the Game’ podcast, the 39-year-old star stated that he didn’t have any excuses for his team’s shortcomings.
.@KingJames reflects on the Lakers playoff exit and gives credit where credit is due.
Episode 7 of Mind the Game with LeBron and @jj_redick is now live: https://t.co/PZEPZ7YtS3 pic.twitter.com/c0tL7hkPfV
— Mind the Game (@mindthegamepod) May 8, 2024
However, he does acknowledge that, at the end of the day, the Nuggets were simply the better team.
He also talked about how frustrating it was to watch Jamal Murray knock down two game-winners on them.
Truth be told, chances are that the Lakers would’ve won a series had they faced another opponent, or at least, they wouldn’t have gone home in just five games.
They just don’t match up that well with the Nuggets, perhaps simply from a mental standpoint in the sense that Nikola Jokic and company have beaten them by a couple of points so many times dating back to last season.
Still, just because a team has LeBron James doesn’t mean they’re championship contenders, and the Lakers, regardless of how their fans felt about their team, just weren’t good enough to earn that distinction this time.
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