ESPN’s 2024-25 NBA Season Prediction For Los Angeles Lakers

ESPN has released its predictions for the 2024-25 NBA season.

It ended up being the second-biggest basketball story of the week, right after the real reason for Damian Lillard skipping Giannis Antetokounmpo’s wedding emerging.

The Worldwide Leader in Sports listed out its top six “contenders” in the Western Conference and predicted their records as such:

1. Oklahoma City Thunder: 57-25
2. Minnesota Timberwolves: 54-28
3. Dallas Mavericks: 52-30
4. Denver Nuggets: 52-30
5. Phoenix Suns: 49-33
6. Sacramento Kings: 47-35

So where do the Lakers come in? Around the No. 7 and No. 8 spots? Not quite.

The next four teams in the Western Conference look like this, per ESPN:

7. New Orleans Pelicans: 46-36
8. Golden State Warriors: 45-37
9. Memphis Grizzlies: 44-38
10. Houston Rockets: 44-38

So where does that leave L.A.? They have the Lakers finishing 44-38 and ending up 11^th in the West.

Not great.

What is the rationale for the Lakers being ranked so low?

“For the first time in NBA History we’ll see a father-son duo on the same team in LeBron James and Bronny James. However, the Los Angeles Lakers’ lack of offseason moves and hiring of first-time head coach JJ Redick foretells another season of early growing pains for James and Anthony Davis,” the report noted.

As hard of a pill as it may be for Lakers fans to swallow – it is also tough to argue with ESPN’s logic. This is shaping up to be a long, long year for everyone who supports the purple and gold.

Carlos Garcia

A longtime Sports reporter, Carlos Garcia has written about some of the biggest and most notable athletic events of the last 5 years. He has been credentialed to cover MLS, NBA and MLB Games all over the United States. His work has been published on Fox Sports, Bleacher Report, AOL and the Washington Post.