Should the Los Angeles Lakers rest their starters for Game 5? Absolutely Not.
Early in the morning on Tuesday May 9, 2023, ESPN might’ve had one of its worst takes ever. Tim Legler, Brian Windhorst, Mike Greenberg and Alan Hahn questioned if the Los Angeles Lakers should rest their starters for Game 5 in the Lakers-Warriors series.
In all my time watching sports takes night-in and night-out, this might be one of the worst. Greenberg, the leader in this awful take, said that they have a better chance at winning Game 6, so they should rest their starters in Game 5. He would later say that if LA fell behind in the second quarter, he would rest LeBron James and Anthony Davis.
I’m sorry, but what? That might be the worst idea you could have. I mean, load management in the playoffs, really? It’s already a problem in the regular season, why move it to the playoffs?
Momentum in sports is one of the most powerful things and gets overlooked so often. Why waste a chance to close out the series in five games, then rest for the next round? Instead, you gamble on winning the series and don’t even make it to conference finals.
Outside of the slander towards Greenberg’s take, I have to give credit to Alan Hahn. Hahn deflects the Los Angeles Lakers resting their starters because, in the NBA, leads vanish at any point. 20-, even 30-point leads can be gone in minutes, so why just roll over and die in Game 5? Go out and win the game, don’t let the Warriors get momentum heading back to LA. Close out the series.
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