LeBron James could be set up for epic, score-settling playoff run

After 21 NBA seasons, LeBron James has developed plenty of rivalries. If the Los Angeles Lakers make a deep playoff run, he has a chance to vanquish all the teams he's clashed with the most.

The tight Western Conference standings mean that playoff seeding is still up in the air. The Lakers are in fourth place after losing to the Golden State Warriors Thursday night, a half-game behind the Denver Nuggets and only two games ahead of the eighth-place Los Angeles Clippers.

That means things could break such that the James faces nearly all of his biggest rivals, save the San Antonio Spurs, though it would require at least one big upset. Those teams are the aforementioned Clippers, Nuggets and Warriors. Essentially, the Lakers need to climb into third, then have their rivals end up in seventh, sixth and either fourth or fifth,

The Clippers are the Lakers' crosstown rivals, and until the last two seasons, they'd dominated the Lakers in the LeBron era. The Clippers won 11 straight games against James' Lakers, spanning three calendar years, and have a 12-9 record against James as a Laker.

The Nuggets knocked the Lakers out of the playoffs in each of the last two seasons. LeBron has faced Steph Curry and the Warriors in four NBA Finals, one second-round series and a play-in game. He's only faced the Boston Celtics more often in the playoffs, but with two different incarnations of the Celtics. If the Lakers could survive the Western Conference playoff gauntlet, James would have a chance to send them home in the postseason yet again.

It would require some luck for James to face all his rivals, but getting matched up against both the Nuggets and Warriors this year might not be at all unlikely. Someone would need to knock off the juggernaut Oklahoma City Thunder as well, which might be a tall order for anyone.

But in his age-40 season, this may be James' last and best chance for a signature playoff run. And what could be more memorable than settling the score with all of his old enemies in one postseason?