ESPN Was All-In on the Lakers Being Dangerous in the Playoffs on Monday
LeBron James hurt his foot in the Los Angeles Lakers' huge comeback win over the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. The news of the severity of the injury is going to put a damper on the extremely high spirits that ESPN was feeling on Monday about the Lakers' chances in the postseason.
The day started with Keyshawn Johnson saying the current Lakers team was going to "break some hearts" come playoff time because this is the "best constructed roster that the Lakers have had" during LeBron's tenure in LA.
Things continued on Get Up. Stephen A. Smith had the Lakers moving up about six spots to the 6-seed.
.@stephenasmith says the Lakers look "very, very dangerous" 😤
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) February 27, 2023
"The Lakers could get to the sixth-seed and they'll win a first-round series and get to the semifinals." pic.twitter.com/kezahb8MSy
Mike Greenberg thought the Lakers were getting hot and would be very dangerous down the stretch.
"I think the Lakers, at the right time of the year, are getting hot and I think they're going to be dangerous down this stretch."
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) February 27, 2023
👀 @Espngreeny pic.twitter.com/C6fJ7btKct
Tristan Thompson joined Monica McNutt and Tim Bontemps for an extra segment about the Lakers with Thompson suggesting that this current version of the Lakers would have been a top-four seed in the Western Conference if they had been together all season. Bontemps was a little more reserved, but did add that none of the top teams would want to see the Lakers in the playoffs.
Things really went off the rails on NBA Today as VInce Carter, Marc Spears, Tristan Thompson and Ramona Shelburne joined Malika Andrews to determine just how scary the Lakers are right now. According to Vince Carter, there is no one scarier. Andrews polled the panel asking who they would take in a series against the top-seeded Denver Nuggets. Everyone took the Lakers, with Thompson also saying Richard Jefferson and Kendrick Perkins would agree. Andrews then asked the same question about the Lakers playing the Grizzlies and only Shelburne took Memphis.
It got so hard to find anyone who would fade the Lakers yesterday that NBA Today producers were calling Zach Lowe at home on his day off to see if he would zoom in to provide a counterpoint.
ESPN had so much trouble finding someone who didn’t believe in the Lakers yesterday they called Zach Lowe at home on his day off to see if he would be the voice of reason pic.twitter.com/vv7l3iKRH3
— Stephen Douglas (@Stephen_Douglas) February 28, 2023
With Lowe unavailable, but the best they could do was convince Shelburne that she believed in the Grizzlies enough to not raise her hand.
Look, it's not like ESPN was the only place where you could find people praising the new look Lakers after a few wins, but just wait until LeBron returns from this injury and the Lakers put together two wins in a row. ESPN will most certainly be the loudest voice telling you Lakers are back. Again.