Lakers News: JaVale McGee is comfortable going to Orlando

Recent Lakers news is that JaVale McGee is comfortable playing in Orlando despite being at high risk to Covid-19 because of his asthma.

As we get closer to July, recent Lakers news has been about Los Angeles getting ready to resume the season.

For the Lakers, they will be heading into Orlando with the best record in the West, and will almost certainly be the No.1 seed in the conference. Usually, being the No.1 seed results in a homecourt advantage for the team that holds the best record, however, there will be no homecourt advantage in Florida for the Lakers.

Due to the coronavirus, the league has come out and said that players not comfortable resuming the season are allowed to sit out and get paid. We have seen a few so far announce that they won’t be playing, as Avery Bradley of the Lakers will be sitting out because his son has respiratory issues.

For the Lakers, they have a player on their team with asthma in JaVale McGee, who is at a higher risk than others if he got the virus. However, in a recent interview with Dan Woike of the Los Angeles Times, McGee said that he is comfortable playing in Orlando.

"“I’m definitely comfortable,” McGee said. “We’ve been away for a while now and we’ve been COVID-free for this long. I definitely think we’ll be OK as long as we take the necessary precautions.”"

McGee playing in Orlando is very important for the Lakers, as he is their starting center, and they are already down their starting point guard. McGee has been a very efficient player for the Lakers this season, as while he doesn’t play a ton of minutes, he is great at blocking shots, getting rebounds, and throwing down lobs when he is on the court.

The combination of McGee and Dwight Howard has allowed the Lakers to keep Anthony Davis at the power forward position for most of the season. This has certainly helped Davis out a lot, as he hasn’t had to deal with a lot of minutes against bigger centers this season.

With McGee going to Orlando, the frontcourt of the Lakers should continue to be a strength of the team. Hopefully, McGee and the rest of the team are able to stay healthy throughout the playoffs.