The Los Angeles Lakers have already stacked up plenty of wins this season and are out there having fun in the process. They are on a five-game winning streak, and folks haven’t had to look hard to find players showing signs of teamwork and camaraderie during that streak.
To this point in the campaign, the Lakers have seemingly established a great winning culture, and former NBA champion Kendrick Perkins said they are finding both culture and identity after spending “years” looking for those things.
“What we’re seeing now is what the Lakers have been searching for in the last five or six years,” he said. “You know what that is? Culture, identity — we’re seeing that right now, and it’s trending that way.
“… One thing we can say about the Lakers in this appetizer that we’ve seen them in is that they’re going to play hard every f—— game. Make or miss shots, J.J. [Redick] has his group competing at the highest level.”
It’s great that the start of the season has been about as devoid of drama as Lakers fans could have realistically hoped for, but the team will need to prove that its good habits are going to stick. If Los Angeles can sustain this high level of collective play for a whole season, the sky will be the limit.
What’s so impressive about the Lakers’ stellar start to the season is that guard Luka Doncic, guard Austin Reaves and forward LeBron James have all missed time, yet they’ve found ways to win without them. James hasn’t even made his season debut just yet, and Doncic has already sat out four games.
Redick certainly deserves a lot of credit for the fact that the Lakers have played so well despite being short-handed, as he’s had his team well-prepared to come away with wins night in and night out. However, Los Angeles’ supporting cast deserves as much credit as he does, if not even more.
The consistent scoring punch that the Lakers have gotten from folks not named Reaves, Doncic or James has been one of the major storylines behind their great start. Four members of the supporting cast — Deandre Ayton, Marcus Smart, Jake LaRavia and Rui Hachimura — are all averaging double digits in points per contest up to this point.
Three of those players were offseason additions, so it’s safe to claim that the Lakers’ moves in the summer have aged well so far.
Los Angeles’ ancillary players will look to keep the good times rolling in the team’s upcoming game. It can extend its current winning streak to six games with a victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Saturday night.