Lakers news: LeBron continues to make history, Dalton Knecht steps up, Pat Riley honored
The Cleveland Cavaliers have shocked the NBA by roaring out to a 15-0 record, which is tied for the second-best start to a season in NBA history. They have some work to do to catch the 2015-16 Golden State Warriors (Steph Curry and company began that campaign with 24 straight wins), but whether they're able to catch that incredible mark or not, the Cavs and their new head coach Kenny Atkinson have been the story of the season thus far.
The NBA is always rich with storylines, but the Los Angeles Lakers may be the most interesting one behind the Cavs. Like Cleveland, L.A. is thriving under a new head coach, as JJ Redick has taken a roster that is nearly identical to last year's and tweaked it in a few subtle but smart ways. The Lakers aren't blowing teams out, but they've held serve at home and thrived in late-game situations, which is why they've won five games in a row and sit at 9-4 heading into tonight's home date with the Utah Jazz.
The Lakers are fourth in offensive efficiency, up from 15th a year ago, thanks to Redick's tactics, which include making Anthony Davis the focus of the offense, moving D'Angelo Russell to the bench, and getting his team to take and make more threes per game. The Lakers can't yet compete with the long-range mastery of the Celtics or Warriors, but they've been slowly moving in the right direction, as they've risen from dead last in the league last year in three-point attempts and 24th in makes to 25th this year in attempts and 18th in makes.
Winning five games in a row means that this week's news round-up is all positive, both on and off the court. Here's what Lakers fans need to know.
LeBron James may be getting older, but he's still the King
After 21 years of witnessing LeBron James' greatness, we shouldn't be surprised anymore by what he's able to do on the basketball court, yet here we are. LeBron has already rewritten the NBA record book many times over, but he's doing things this season that just shouldn't be possible.
LeBron recently put together a stretch of four consecutive triple-doubles, something even he has never done before. These also happen to be four of the five oldest triple-doubles in NBA history. Only Karl Malone managed the feat at an older age, but LeBron is less than a year away from being able to break that mark, too.
LeBron's triple-double streak came to an end on Sunday against the Pelicans, as he "only" managed 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists on the night. All was not lost though, as he helped the Lakers win their fifth straight game with two clutch threes in the final two minutes to put the game away.
NBA insiders believe that LeBron may not play much longer, but his performance this year suggests that he has a lot left in the tank. He currently ranks third in the NBA in assists, 20th in points, and 22nd in rebounds, all while playing every game and over 35 minutes a night. He's also shooting over 50 percent from the floor and a career-high 43.1 percent from three this year. There will come a day when Father Time finally gets the best of LeBron, but it sure looks like today is not that day.
Dalton Knecht has capitalized on some frontcourt attrition to seize a featured role
Some Lakers fans worried about Dalton Knecht after the rookie followed a scorching-hot preseason with a tepid first few weeks once the regular season began. After three consecutive impact performances though, it's time for everyone to get back on the Knecht bandwagon.
Knecht was viewed as one of the steals of the draft when the Lakers took him with the 17th pick this summer. His all-around offensive game and long-range shooting stroke seemed a perfect fit for Redick's vision, and now we're finally seeing why.
Knecht led the Lakers with a +17 rating against the Grizzlies on Wednesday, and the team needed every bit of his offensive efficiency in overcoming a fourth-quarter deficit to get the win. Knecht was a perfect 5-5 from three in the game, playing in what was at the time a season-high 31 minutes.
He followed that up with another efficient effort against the Spurs in the Lakers' NBA Cup opener on Friday, hitting 6-11 from the field and 2-4 from three on his way to 14 points, then he was second on the team behind only Anthony Davis with 27 points on 10-17 shooting and five threes while playing 37 minutes in Sunday's win over the Pelicans.
It's no coincidence that Knecht's recent surge happened immediately after being inserted into the starting lineup. JJ Redick seems to have found a rotation that works, as Knecht has given the team a needed additional scoring punch while D'Angelo Russell has been able to lead the bench unit.
According to FanDuel, Knecht currently has the fifth-best Rookie of the Year odds at +1200, behind Jared McCain, Zaccharie Risacher, Carlton Carrington and Zach Edey. Look for him to continue to climb if he keeps performing like this.
Pat Riley is finally being honored with a statue
The Lakers have honored seven people with statues in Star Plaza outside Crypto.com Arena, and the list reads like a who's who of franchise royalty, with Elgin Baylor, Jerry West, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Chick Hearn, Magic Johnson , Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant already enshrined. On Monday, the Lakers announced that they'll be adding a long-overdue eighth, as they've commissioned a statue to honor former broadcaster, player and coach Pat Riley.
Riley may be more familiar to younger NBA fans as the architect of the Miami Heat's "Big 3" era, but long before he convinced LeBron to take his talents to South Beach to join Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, he was the coach of the "Showtime" Lakers, arguably the best and most entertaining team ever assembled.
Riley won four NBA titles as Lakers head coach in the '80s, and he also won one ring as an assistant and one as a player. Though he eventually left L.A. to coach the Knicks and later the Heat, he's still an all-time Laker great who fully deserves such an honor.
The statue is reportedly set to be completed in 2026, though the Lakers haven't yet announced an unveiling date. Hopefully, the artists are able to capture Riley's iconic slicked-back look better than those who recently made the much-memed statue of Wade, Riley's former player, outside the Heat's Kaseya Center.