Last season, the Los Angeles Lakers were considered one of the favorites to win the NBA championship. However, it seemed that, all too often, they came into games with a casual attitude and felt they didn’t need to go all-out until the playoffs started.
As a result, the playoffs never started for them. They didn’t even qualify for the play-in tournament.
But after falling flat on their faces last season and with a new head coach, the Lakers seemingly have adopted a different and better attitude for the 2022-23 campaign.
Superstar big man Anthony Davis, who has been accused of being passive and soft many times, showed leadership during media day on Monday by explaining exactly what the team’s new attitude is.
Via ESPN:
“We’re treating this season like we have a chip on our shoulder. We’re the underdogs,” Davis told ESPN during the team’s annual media day on Monday. “Obviously, the world is looking to see what we do. But … they’re not talking about us, and that’s fine. You know, we’d rather be under the radar.”
When Los Angeles won the world title in the 2019-20 season, it started the year as something of an underdog; the Los Angeles Clippers were considered the favorites to win it all.
In fact, ESPN predicted Los Angeles to finish fifth in the Western Conference that year.
The Lakers are hoping that being counted out this season will produce similar results.
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