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The postmortem examination of the Lakers season grabbed plenty of airtime prior to the NBA playoffs and understandably so. The Lakers are one of the premier franchises in the league, have LeBron James on the roster, and entered the season as one of the title favorites.
Now that the dust has settled, analysts and experts have been giving their two cents on what the Lakers future holds. For ESPN's Tim Legler, that future doesn't include another championship for LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and company.
For Legler, it's not the talent of Davis and LeBron, but their ability to stay healthy. The nine-year NBA veteran explained his reasoning on an episode of Get Up earlier this week.
"Nobody can see into the future, but I don't think they're going to win another title in LA. I think LeBron wins another one. Here's the single biggest factor, and we're ignoring it - LeBron James and Anthony Davis are having a hard time staying healthy. That's not going to get better with time. It's only going to become more difficult."
Zach Lowe, another ESPN NBA expert, wasn't as firm on his take, but thinks the strength of the conference will be a major challenge as well for LeBron and the Lakers next year.
"It's going to be tough like Legs [Legler] said, but I'm not betting against LeBron and AD making another run at it. Another thing we're overlooking: the Clippers are coming back fully loaded next year, and the Nuggets are coming back fully loaded next year. It sounds dramatic for Legs to say, 'He'll never win a title again in LA", but I do think that is the likeliest outcome given that the West is not getting any easier."
A crucial offseason awaits the Lakers, but if you ask Legler and Lowe, another championship, does not.
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