EL SEGUNDO, Calif. — There were no visible signs of added emotion on the eve of the Los Angeles Lakers’ NBA Cup quarterfinal against the San Antonio Spurs, no extra edge from a single-elimination game, no open desire to earn more prize money or add more hardware to the trophy case.
“I’m sure it feels different to some people,” Marcus Smart said, “but to me, it’s another game.”
“Cool court,” Deandre Ayton said, sort of flatly.
It’s not exactly the sentiment the NBA had hoped to cultivate with this in-season competition, now in Year 3, but Ayton and Smart can be forgiven if the competitive rush from the NBA Cup isn’t driving them.
To be fair, they’ve been feeling that buzz simply by being Lakers.
For a pair of players who have tasted winning — Smart with the Boston Celtics and Ayton with the Phoenix Suns — the return to those standards in Los Angeles has been inspiring enough. From the future Hall of Famers on the roster to the names and numbers of the Hall of Famers who have played for the franchise before, Ayton said championship motivation is a daily thing.
“Being here in this atmosphere … winning speaks for itself,” he said. “Just the names around here. It’s motivating. Seeing where we are in the season, why not us?”
The only championship in the short-term focus is the NBA Cup, which the Lakers are three wins away from. It’s not why Ayton or Smart joined the Lakers, but it is representative of the work the team has done to date. Through the first quarter of the season, Los Angeles has the second-best record in the West despite injuries that have disrupted its continuity.
During Smart’s absence over the last six games, the team has the sixth-worst defense in the NBA — a small but not insignificant dip. JJ Redick called Smart the Lakers’ primary tone-setter with his defensive physicality, and with De’Aaron Fox, Dylan Harper, Stephon Castle and the Spurs in the way of the Cup semis, Smart’s return from a back injury is just in time.
“I think we’ve gotten a great version of him when he’s been healthy and on the court,” Redick said. “We just gotta continue to, in some ways, integrate him. And now that we’re trying to integrate LeBron, it’s integrating (Smart too). And he can offer a lot for our team.”
The Lakers, in turn, have a lot to offer Smart — namely the chance to play for things that matter in ways they did during his time in Boston, as opposed to his time with the Memphis Grizzlies and Washington Wizards.
“Coming from Boston for nine years and the tradition there, and the things that I’ve accomplished there, and (then) you kind of get shipped off to where you’re not in the spotlight anymore,” Smart said. “The games, in a sense, don’t matter as much or you’re not really playing for anything. You kind of get in a dull moment in your life where you just kind of start questioning things. And then you come and realize that tradition again with another organization. And the things that they bring. And the effort that they bring on the court. And you’re like, damn, I really want to be a part of that.”
Ayton feels similarly.
“We got LeBron and Luka (Dončić). I feel like that every day,” he said of the Lakers’ chances to win. “Coming into practice, taking care of the little things even when you’re tired, just getting your lifts in and getting some cardio in and even when the coach gives us a good practice and we’re out competing and getting up shots up after practice. And, yeah, I think we have a shot.
“We have some Hall of Famers on the team that really want to win, and they make that very vocal that they want to win. So you’re gonna have to hold your end to be a part of the puzzle so you can fit.”