Road to Repeat: Lakers’ depth is helping them avoid a championship hangover

The Los Angeles Lakers fans feel robbed. Yes, their favorite team survived a dogfight against a hard-nosed, talented Miami Heat squad in the NBA Finals last season. But Laker fans were forced to look on from their couches, cheering at their screen as teammates LeBron James and Anthony Davis lifted the Larry O’ Brien trophy in October. No celebration, no high-fiving other random Laker fans, no championship parade through the streets of Staples Center. While the trophy marks the 17th championship in Lakers franchise history, tying it with the Boston Celtics for the most in NBA history, it was far from the normal victory experience.

Now, the Lakers are back with a vengeance, sitting at a 16-6 record so far this season, continuing to look like one of the most dominant teams in the league. 

So often, we hear the term “championship hangover,” as victorious teams just wrapping up an offseason filled with parades and trips to Vegas come out of the gates in the new season looking sluggish and disinterested. It’s hard to blame them; these teams often know what they are capable of, looking to simply bide time until the playoffs come around. However, of the Lakers rotation players, only a few have witnessed a true championship parade. 

Guys like Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, Markieff Morris and Kyle Kuzma all secured the ring on their fingers, but they are likely still eager for the real championship experience — one with thousands of fans packed into the streets, cheering their names, making the feat feel even more impressive. This quest to bring a parade to the city of L.A. has provided the champs with some added motivation to keep them engaged during the regular season, hence the impressive record, good for just half a game back from the first seed in the Western Conference. 

General manager Rob Pelinka strengthened the team in the offseason, adding workhorses like Dennis Schroeder, Montrezl Harrell and Wesley Matthews — all high energy contributors. Both Schroeder and Matthews can dig in defensively, while Harrell gives the Lakers the extra boost of offense that they weren’t getting from Dwight Howard or JaVale McGee last season. These high-motor players have been able to keep the energy up on the court to avoid the dangerous “championship hangover.”

The new additions have also given head coach Frank Vogel a variety of strong lineups to play with. After winning his first championship in October, Vogel had a shortened two month offseason to figure out how he’d like to work his rotations. With the emergence of second-year guard Talen Horton-Tucker as a legitimate rotation piece, Vogel admitted to Lakers media personnel the bittersweet issue in his locker room. 

“It’s a good problem, but it makes my job harder trying to make sure we have appropriate minutes for the abilities of the players that we have and there’s a lot of nights we don’t have appropriate minutes for everyone,” Vogel said in an interview with reporters.

Come playoff time, the abundance of depth on this Lakers team will shine, but for now, it has become an issue. Vogel simply can’t find time for the Lakers’ secret weapon: Alex Caruso. If you caught any of the teams’ playoff games last season, you know what Caruso can bring to the table. Vogel chose Caruso to replace Dwight Howard in the Lakers’ starting lineup in the closeout game of last year’s Finals. Somehow, in a shortened offseason, the 26-year old has become more impactful than he was last season. 

Caruso’s stats this season aren’t mind-boggling — he’s putting up 5.6 points per game, 2.3 rebounds per game, and 2.1 assists per game. Yes, that’s it. But Caruso is the epitome of a winning player. If you look at his box score nightly you won’t be impressed, but he makes winning plays. Take the Lakers’ most recent win against the Hawks on Feb. 1, where he grabbed an offensive rebound to seal the win as an example of his timely contributions. 

Despite Caruso’s open shot-making ability and defensive sharpness, Vogel has only given him 18.3 minutes per game. In the playoffs, this number simply has to increase. Maybe Vogel wants to conserve Caruso and keep him healthy for the playoffs, but the bottom line is, when the game is on the line, the “Bald Mamba” has to be on the court. 

Sahil Kurup is a freshman writing about the Los Angeles Lakers. His column, “Road to Repeat” runs every other Friday.