Lakers: LA's 2021 First Round Exit Ranked as Sixth Biggest Story of 2021 NBA Season
2021 was a challenging year for the Lakers. Injuries to their star players have been and continue to be a major storyline for the purple and gold. Their bid to win back-to-back championships was an abject failure. Unfortunately, both Anthony Davis and LeBron James were far from healthy for the Lakers first round playoff loss to the upstart Phoenix Suns in the 2021 playoffs.
Sirius XM NBA Radio named the “Lakers 1st Round Exit” as the sixth biggest story of 2021 in their Top 10 Stories of 2021. “Bucks Win NBA Championship” was number one with the “Ben Simmons Situation” ranking second.
Sirius XM NBA Radio’s Frank Isola and Mitch Lawrence discussed the Lakers losing to the Suns in six games. Lawrence gave the Suns credit, but stated that the injuries to James and Davis helped the Suns immensely.
“What ended up catching up with the Lakers was LeBron was hurt, [he] got his ankle injured late in the year and he never fully recovered. Then, during the playoffs, Anthony Davis went down with a major injury…Phoenix came back and won [the series], but it was aided by the two injuries to the main Laker starts.”
Davis, who was already nursing a knee sprain, missed Game 5 of the series due to a groin injury. He unsuccessfully attempted to gut it out in Game 6 with Phoenix on the brink of clinching. Davis logged a total of 5 minutes and 25 seconds before retiring to the bench. The Suns clinched the series with a 113-100 victory.
Isola commented on some fans and pundits questioning the abilities of LeBron James and the legitimacy of the Lakers 2020 bubble championship following the loss to the Suns.
“On December 30th of 2021, he turned 37 years old. We got to cut the guy a little slack here. I can’t' knock them for winning a championship when every other team had an opportunity to win a championship.”
If the Lakers hope to win another championship, the first step is having all three superstars on the court together. Anthony Davis is currently sidelined with a sprained MCL in his left knee. He will be re-evaluated mid-January.
