The Los Angeles Lakers are 27-31 and sit ninth in the Western Conference.
By any objective measure, this group is one of the NBA’s bigger disappointments so far this season. And given how they’ve played up to this point, you would think that they would be very nervous about a playoff showdown versus just about any squad ranked ahead of them.
Not so.
During a recent segment on TNT, Shaquille O’Neal revealed that there is one team LA isn’t at all afraid to face off against in the playoffs.
“I’ve heard from a powerful source inside the organization, they’re right where they want to be,” he said.
“What I mean, they would rather play Phoenix in the first round than Golden State. Just telling you what I heard.”
That is a fascinating tidbit, obviously, because LA got crushed by the Suns in the playoffs last year. Not only that, but it was a particularly ugly series that saw a lot of dirty play and lingering bad blood.
In fact, just this season the hostility between these two squads was kicked into overdrive and a few weeks back a prominent Suns player publicly bashed the Lakers as the worst team in the West.
The beef here is very, very real.
So what makes the Lakers so confident they’ll be able to beat Phoenix this time around? It’s unclear.
Steph and Ayesha kept it real. https://t.co/Cr4QiL3Eta
— Game 7 (@game7__) February 17, 2022
Given that Los Angeles currently resides at the bottom of the West and the Suns sit atop the conference, there is a very good chance the Lakers will get their wish.
What will they ultimately do when it happens? Time will tell.
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Charles Kruger has been credentialed to cover two Super Bowls, four NBA Finals, and one World Series. A 20-year veteran in the sports world, he has sources spanning the NBA, MLB, NFL, UFC and NASCAR. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Calif., he is Game 7’s go-to source for rumors surrounding the Lakers, Clippers and Dodgers.
