Stan Van Gundy dropped critical words that make the Los Angeles Lakers not on the level of the OKC Thunder, Denver Nuggets and others.
Stan Van Gundy isn’t fully convinced that the Los Angeles Lakers have what it takes to be strong enough to compete for the NBA championship this 2025-26 season.
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"I don’t think they’re a true contender," the former NBA coach and current NBA on Prime analyst said (h/t The Sporting Tribune's Arash Markazi), "And I said that going in. First of all, just looking at the raw numbers. Their numbers tell that they were mediocre, their record said they were really good, and I just don’t think in today’s game that they’ve got the depth. They do not have the speed and quickness to keep up right now.
"And defensively, I think they even get weaker when their three best players play together. When they have a mix of two of those guys — and now JJ [Redick] will obviously rotate those — but you’re going to come down the stretch in games and those three guys are all going to have to be out there."
The Lakers are currently sitting at the No. 4 spot of the Western Conference with a 17-7 record. Despite a solid start, their weakness has been exposed for the past couple of games.
Defense serves as the Lakers' biggest and most glaring issue as they rank 21st in the league's defensive rating (116.7). They gave up an average of 122.2 points in their last five games en route to a 2-3 stretch.
Although LA is witnessing an MVP-caliber takeover from Luka Doncic and the meteoric rise of Austin Reaves, Van Gundy isn't sold on the team's contention chances, as he believes the Lakers can't be compared to several other top-tier groups headlined by the reigning champion Oklahoma City Thunder.
"I think it’s a struggle. I think JJ [Redick] and his staff have a huge challenge in front of them. I think they’ve done a great job as a staff maximizing what they have, but I can’t picture them at that level," Van Gundy added.
"I don’t picture anybody at OKC’s level. Denver, San Antonio, and Houston were probably the next three best teams. I don’t really see the Lakers at that level."
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