The NBA league system had remained unchanged for decades: Until the COVID-19 Pandemic disrupted everything. In came a rudimentary Play-in tournament to decide who was the final 8th seed. And then the next year, it became a fully implemented system – a system Gilbert Arenas is not a fan of.
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Every year, each team fights for the 8 seeds available to them to advance to the postseason. There used to be pride in saying you made the top 8 – now that incentive is gone. With Adam Silver effectively stating that even the 10th seed could all of a sudden become a playoff team, Arenas thinks it’s just plain wrong.
He states vehemently “9th and 10th spots are not Playoff Spots”. And it is perfectly true. It almost looked like the first edition of the play-in tournament was designed to make sure LeBron James made it to the postseason. How awkward would it be, for the reigning champion to crash out without even stepping in?
While they did manage to make it that year, the Lakers have been horrible for the next two. Last season was their worst in history, and this season, they’ve never been higher than 10th. If that is not worse than mediocrity, nothing is.
keep these losers out the playoffs 😡 pic.twitter.com/rv6AKC5ZoO
— Gil’s Arena (@GilsArena) March 3, 2023
Gilbert Arenas has polarizing opinions – This time, he is a 100% right
With the Los Angeles Lakers struggling for a good part of two seasons, the play-in tournament is their only hope of making it to the next rounds. Something that they very much do not deserve. The postseason is only for the best of the best, not the best of the rest.
LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and the two Russells employed by the purple and gold should make the playoff, only if they make it to the 8th spot. It devalues the struggles that the 8th best team in the conference put in all season long if they are forced to play the seeds below them.
No Chill Gil had no chill in calling the cards he saw them. He straight up called the 9th seeds and below “losers” and “half-a**ers, saying they did not deserve to be in the playoff contention. 100% stone-cold facts.
Bron knows this, Davis knows this, and Adam Silver knows this. But to get the TRP up for a dwindling viewership, it becomes necessary to bring in such “strategic measures”.
Will the Los Angeles Lakers reach the 8th spot with their talisman being injured?
After going down injured against the Dallas Mavericks, the Lakers have lost both the games LeBron did not feature in. The loss last night comes as a stinger because they could have climbed up the rankings. They currently languish at the 11th spot, 1 spot below the play-ins.
The timing of Bron’s injury was just unfortunate. The new-look Lakers looked like they were ready to take on anyone in front of them, and in quick succession, they lost LeBron and D’Angelo Russell. With those two losses, it looks like the Lakers will spend another season without any postseason action.
But if they were to rush him back from his ankle injury, it could help close the gap now. It would, however, also cause long-term repercussions for his health. His dream is to play with his son – he can do it if his ankle works well.
LBJ has already been on the decline physically, and not having a strong ankle could cut down his playing time significantly. Even if the Lakers faithful would love to see him back ASAP, it is highly unlikely he will be rushed back.
Also Read: LeBron James’ NBA Finals Cramps Led To His Trainer Making A New Protein Powder
