The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Denver Nuggets in Game 1
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The Los Angeles Lakers fell to the Denver Nuggets in Game 1, and while they played well in the first half, the Lakers were seriously overmatched in the second half.
Speaking with reporters after the game, Lakers star LeBron James got honest about what his team needs to do in order to not only win this series, but be the championship team they aspire to be.
“I’ve never played on a championship team that didn’t pay attention to detail,” James said. “There’s no if, ands, or buts about it. You have to.”
Knowing what it takes to win it all, James has four NBA championships, and is in pursuit of another one this year.
The Lakers’ path to a title is incredibly difficult, and begins with the defending champion Nuggets, but this is a group that has their sights set on that goal.
Any team with LeBron James is expected to compete for a title.
The Lakers last won it all in 2020, and they have had varying levels of postseason success since then, but have not reached the Finals again since that season.
A path back to the Finals feels unlikely for this Lakers team, but if they are able to pay attention to detail in the way James is speaking about, they will give themselves the best chance possible.
The NBA has become more lenient on traveling violations than they once were.
While the league did start placing a greater emphasis on calls like traveling, carrying, and others last season, there are still ways to exploit the rules that current players have gotten savvy with.
During a recent appearance on Gil’s Arena, former Denver Nuggets guard Nate Robinson shared an interesting take about LeBron James, and how the Los Angeles Lakers star was the first player to begin using a hop-step to get extra steps in without receiving a traveling violation.
“That’s a travel. They don’t call that no more. LeBron did that sh-t,” Robinson said.
“He started doing that hop-step and then taking two steps and then dunking off of coming down from a jump-step. I’m like, after [the hop-step] you gotta go up. They’re taking two more steps, it’s crazy.”
One of the best dunkers of his era, Robinson doesn’t like how the NBA now allows players to take extra steps after their hop-step, which has become a savvy way to gain more ground before going up. This is an interesting discussion that has become very controversial in NBA circles, but the former Dunk Contest champion believes LeBron James is traveling when utilizing that move.
While Robinson believes this move should be a travel, it’s usually allowed by NBA officials.
