Very few national pundits seem to be classifying the Los Angeles Lakers as legitimate championship contenders for this season. But the team does have a roster that looks significantly better than the one it ended last season with.
Deandre Ayton, who has career averages of 16.4 points on 59% shooting from the field and 10.5 rebounds a game, is its new starting center, and Marcus Smart, the 2021-22 NBA Defensive Player of the Year, has come on board. The Lakers also added emerging sharpshooting forward Jake LaRavia, and of course, a much fitter Luka Doncic is starting his first full season with them.
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Members of the team were seen wearing T-shirts at training camp with the word “obsession,” which seems to be the theme for Los Angeles as the 2025-26 campaign gets underway. On the shirts, the word “obsession” is stylized with the number 18 taking the place of the second and third Os, signifying the quest for the franchise’s 18th NBA championship.
The Lakers, of course, won their last world title in 2020 inside the Walt Disney World Resort bubble. Since then, they have made one Western Conference finals appearance, lost in the first round of the playoffs three times and missed the postseason once. In three of the last five seasons, they have had to go through the play-in tournament.
This article originally appeared on LeBron Wire: Lakers are summing up their goal this season with one word