Los Angeles Lakers veteran forward Jared Dudley thinks his team would have had the best chance to win the NBA title this year. Even if the Lakers remain title contenders in the future, it could be more difficult to go all the way, according to him.
It is the home-court advantage that the Purple and Gold have this season that makes things easier. The Lakers are sitting atop the Western Conference which would give them the home-court advantage on their way to the NBA Finals.
Another thing is the focus and momentum that the Lakers had prior to the season suspension. They have defeated both the Clippers and the Bucks in March. According to Dudley, there was a possibility of them even finishing the regular season with a better record than Milwaukee.
Per Michael Lee of The Athletic:
“Even if we win the championship next year, that’s not saying this would not have been our best chance. This would have been our best chance to win, even if you go into the future. The optics and everything was set up. We’re going to have homecourt and we don’t know how it would’ve been. Milwaukee might lose a few more games. We might have caught them. Probably most likely not, but you just don’t know. The momentum we were carrying going into it, it’s hard to repeat that.”
Jared Dudley
