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Los Angeles Lakers: Three reasons why a title in year one is possible

By Jason Reed

LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 02: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers smiles during a preseason game against the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center on October 2, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - OCTOBER 02: LeBron James #23 of the Los Angeles Lakers smiles during a preseason game against the Denver Nuggets at Staples Center on October 2, 2018 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) /
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(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers
(Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images) – Los Angeles Lakers /

1. Making five straight NBA Finals is very difficult

First, we have to start with the team that is the favorite to win the NBA Title and realistically should dominate the league next season, the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors, as you know, are a new breed of super team, which has turned many fans away as the result seems decided before the season begins.

Golden State has been dominant over the last four years and has seemed unbeatable in a seven-game series with Kevin Durant now in the mix. The Houston Rockets, though, showed that this team has flaws and is not the unslayable beast that some may have thought they were.

The fact of the matter is that it is very difficult for even the best teams in the NBA to make five straight NBA Finals. While Stephen Curry and Durant are still in their primes, being one of the last two teams standing the last four years takes a toll on the body. The mileage stacks up.

Outside of the Bill Russell-led Boston Celtics, no team in NBA history, not even the Michael Jordan Bulls (for obvious reasons) have appeared in five straight NBA Finals. There are some really, really good teams in that conversation that could not get over that fourth speedbump.

Could the Golden State Warriors get over that hump? Absolutely. The same fatigue argument can be used for LeBron James, who has made it to eight straight NBA Finals.

However, the Warriors have been really lucky in not getting hurt when it matters. The two times in which the team had significant losses it really hurt the team. Golden State almost lost to Houston last year without Andre Iguodala and essentially lost the 2016 NBA Finals due to the Draymond Green suspension.

Anything can happen and the odds of having that great luck for a fifth-straight year is slim. If anything happens, that leaves the door wide open for the Los Angeles Lakers.

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