Lights on LeBron, Bronny James as Lakers open vs. Wolves
Two teams with every expectation that they will be in the mix come the spring will open the season against each other today when the Los Angeles Lakers play host to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Lakers will try to squeeze another quality season out of a veteran duo in LeBron James and Anthony Davis while the team receives a much-needed injection of youth from newcomers Dalton Knecht and Bronny James, the 20-year-old son of the team’s star.
The new-look Timberwolves elected to shake up the top of the roster by retaining Anthony Edwards but trading Karl-Anthony Towns for the high motor of Julius Randle, who averaged 23.3 points and 9.9 rebounds over the past four seasons for the New York Knicks.
The elder James will turn 40 at the end of December yet looks as spry as ever with the arrival of his son, who played one season at Southern California before making the jump to the NBA. Also adding an injection of energy is new head coach JJ Redick.
Los Angeles finished 47-35 last season, eighth in the Western Conference, before advancing to the main playoff field after a victory in the play-in tournament. They were eliminated in the first round by the Denver Nuggets.
James averaged 25.7 points with 7.3 rebounds and 8.3 assists, his highest assist rate since posting a career-best 10.2 mark in 2019-20, when the Los Angeles won its most recent title. He played 71 games last season, his high total in six seasons with the Lakers.
Davis averaged 24.7 points with a career-best 12.6 rebounds and was named to the NBA’s All-Defensive first team for the third time in his career.
In Minnesota, Edwards is coming off his best season, when he averaged 25.9 points with 5.4 rebounds and 5.1 assists, finished seventh in MVP voting and landed on the All-NBA second team. He finished the summer with a gold medal while playing with James and Davis for Team USA at the Paris Olympics.
