KEY POINTS

  • Kevin Love feels a different Lakers team will emerge after the All-Star break
  • The Cavs forward feels the criticism that the Lakers are getting is unfair
  • A healthy Anthony Davis is the key for the Lakers to turn their campaign around

If there is one person who can give valuable insights on LeBron James and Russell Westbrook, it would have to be Kevin Love of the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Most know that Love and James were teammates when they helped steer the Cavs to the 2016 NBA title.

Although things were not as smooth, Cleveland managed to get things together and win it all that year.

As far as Westbrook, he and Love were college teammates at UCLA in 2008. Both were part of the Bruins team that reached the Final Four at that time.

Westbrook was the first one to join the team with Love coming in a year after.

Appearing on The Old Man and the Three podcast with JJ Reddick, Love gave his take on the misfiring Lakers.

The five-time All-Star is aware of the criticism but feels that once Anthony Davis is ready to go, the Lakers may eventually figure things out.

Moreover, Love speculated that the Lakers could be an entirely different team after the league’s annual All-Star break.

“I think if AD comes back healthy and is motivated, he takes that team to a different stratosphere… I wouldn’t be surprised if they figure it out, I would say All-Star break, after the All-Star break. I do feel like they will make some noise,” Love stated.

However, Love also cautioned that even if the Lakers figure it out, he is clueless about how far the team could go.

“How far they will go? I don’t know. But I think some of the expectations and scrutiny is, I’m not gonna say ‘unwarranted,’ but in some ways, unfair,” he explained.

A timetable on the potential return of Davis remains unknown. There were murmurs that the eight-time All-Star could be back against the Miami Heat, but such never transpired.

The result was another loss to the Heat, 113-107. The Lakers made a valiant effort, clawing back from 26 points down in the fourth but came up short.

Furthermore, the loss sent the Lakers back to below .500 with a 23-24 win-loss record and criticism is expected to come next.

Things have not been easy for the Lakers with players and even coaches being singled out.

Hopefully, things will turn around for the struggling franchise after the All-Star break as suggested by Love.

LeBron James #6, Anthony Davis #3 and Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers
LeBron James #6, Anthony Davis #3 and Russell Westbrook #0 of the Los Angeles Lakers Getty Images | Kevork Djansezian
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