Harrell: The Lakers instinctively defended the championship in the 21st season, but James injury became an influencing factor

According to NBA reporter Sam Leweck, after winning the championship in 2020, the Lakers originally hoped to successfully defend their title next season, but according to former Lakers inside player Harrell, the only factor that hindered them was the injury of Lakers star James.

Harrell said: "Compared with the Clippers, the Lakers are like big brothers. That's what I felt at that time, and the only thing that messed up that year was James' injury. That year he had a groin injury. You have to think about it... That year, it was a pity - the top three teams were James, Anthony Davis and I Montrez Harrell! I averaged 15 to 18 points per game; James averaged more than 20 points, and Anthony Davis was close to 20 points, and I contributed 16 to 18 points per night."

At the beginning of the 2020-21 season, James played 41 games in 42 games he might play, and then he suffered an ankle injury (Harrell might remember it wrongly, thinking it was a groin injury), which forced him to miss most of the rest of the season.

James missed almost all the remaining games of the regular season, and although he was able to play against the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs, the Lakers failed to withstand the pressure and were eliminated after six games.