No team had the deck stacked more against them to repeat as NBA champions than the Lakers did last season. After a memorable victory inside the bubble in Orlando, the shortened offseason made it a near impossibility for the purple and gold to properly defend their title.
Injuries mounted after not having anything close to a real offseason to recover, with no player getting hit harder than Anthony Davis. After struggling to get back into game shape to start the season, Davis went down with an Achilles injury that took him out of action for more than 30 games.