National Basketball Association

No more drama: Lakers are laughing, dancing and advancing

Published Apr. 29, 2023 10:23 a.m. ET

LOS ANGELES – With about nine minutes left, LeBron James stood on the court smiling. As the seconds ticked off the clock, Anthony Davis raised his arms into the air. When Darvin Ham sat down for his postgame news conference, his wife was so happy that she blurted out a scream.

"Thank you, baby," Ham said, flashing a wide grin as reporters chuckled.

After an incredibly tumultuous season, the Los Angeles Lakers have arrived.

They became just the sixth seventh-seed since 1984 to take down a second-seed with a resounding 125-85 win over the Memphis Grizzlies in Game 6 of their first-round playoff series Friday. They advance to face the winner of Sunday's Game 7 between Golden State and Sacramento.

That pain in your neck? It's called whiplash.

The Lakers have gone from being one of the most dysfunctional teams in the NBA to one of its greatest stories. A 2-10 start? Sitting in 13th place in the Western Conference? The Russell Westbrook drama? All of that feels like a distant memory.

These Lakers are now a force. Davis has proven he's a defensive maestro. James has shown he can put the team on his 38-year-old shoulders at any given moment. D'Angelo Russell has made it clear he's capable of exploding for 30 points. And Austin Reaves has established himself as a consistent threat.

"This thing is just getting started, you know?" Ham said.

Just a few months ago, the Lakers were in complete disarray.

Is this Lakers team talented enough to win the West?

Rewind to February when James broke one of the most hallowed individual records in sports and toxic headlines cast a dark cloud over what should've been a purely celebratory moment.

There was Westbrook's heated exchange with Ham at halftime. And there was the viral – and completely erroneous – storyline that Davis wasn't happy for James after cameras caught him sitting on the Lakers bench grim-faced as James made the historic shot. (Davis actually had lost track of James' points total because he was so dismayed that his team was losing, yet again.)

It all added up to the picture of incongruity, a perfect snapshot of a season in which the Lakers were mired in so much drama that James defying Father Time was reduced to a subsidiary storyline for much of it.

Fast-forward to Friday, the Lakers dealt the Grizzlies their worst loss in franchise postseason history.

They were a unit. They were cohesive. They danced. They chest-bumped each other. They laughed together.

Lakers general manager Rob Pelinka, who dealt away Westbrook and Patrick Beverley at the trade deadline and added five new players, stood in the tunnel high-fiving every player as they walked off the court.

Then, once the guys were in the locker room, they celebrated, finally making light of the Grizzlies' ridiculous trash talk.

Remember when Dillon Brooks called James "old" and said he doesn't respect anyone unless they score 40 points against him?

Does a 40-point loss count? Do you respect James now?

(Brooks wasn't able to answer that question – or any others – because he left without speaking to reporters for the third time this series following a loss.)

Remember when Ja Morant told ESPN, "I'm fine in the West?"

The Lakers had the last laugh.

They loudly chanted "whoop that trick" in their locker room, poking fun at the Grizzlies' chant.

Then, as Dennis Schroder talked to reporters, Mo Bamba interrupted, asking, "Didn't you say there was a parade somewhere," poking fun at the rap lyric that Morant often repeats: "It's a parade inside my city, yeah."

There will be no parade in Memphis.

As for Los Angeles, that remains to be seen. What seemed impossible months ago all of a sudden is no longer outlandish.

Not with James (22 points on 9-for-13 shooting) showing up to the arena at 3:10 p.m., more than four hours before tipoff to work out because he was so locked in after not playing up to par in Game 5.

Not with Davis making a bid for Defensive Postseason Player of the Year – if such an award existed – finishing with 16 points, 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.

Not with everyone else being ready to step up, including Russell, who led all scorers with 31 points on 12-for-17 shooting.

These Lakers are rolling, and they've put the rest of the basketball world on notice.

Late Friday evening, James delivered a message to his teammates, making sure they're prepared for what comes next.

"We were able to conquer Level 1, and now we move to Level 2," James said. "And it gets harder and harder. So, they understood that and they'll be ready for it."

Melissa Rohlin is an NBA writer for FOX Sports. She previously covered the league for Sports Illustrated, the Los Angeles Times, the Bay Area News Group and the San Antonio Express-News. Follow her on Twitter @melissarohlin.

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