Lakers have championship talent, plenty of questions as they attempt to reclaim NBA title in 2021-22 season

The Western Conference favorites face a ton of questions entering LeBron's 19th NBA season

It would be nice if, just once, the Los Angeles Lakers could have a quiet offseason. Maybe they could build a bit of continuity, tinker on the fringes, you know, the sort of things that most teams do in the offseason. Nope. Not in Hollywood. This is now, amazingly, the sixth consecutive offseason in which a major change of some sort has taken place.  2016-17 245 of 572 (42.8%) 40 of 134 (29.9%) 2017-18 147 of 404 (36.4%) 55 of 162 (34%) 2018-19 83 of 234 (35.5%) 48 of 145 (33.1%) 2019-20 88 of 258 (34.9%) 72 of 218 (33%) 2020-21 64 of 184 (34.8%) 26 of 100 (26%) Total 627 of 1652 (38%) 241 of 759 (31.8%) 2020 postseason 57 of 115 (49.6%) 23 of 60 (38.3%)

It says quite a bit about the manner in which the Lakers operate that an offseason following a championship in which half of the roster is turned over is probably the quietest of this stretch. Everything about the purple and gold is loud, and there is no louder player in basketball than Russell Westbrook. Love him or hate him, neither his opponents nor his teams can ignore him. The former MVP dictates his team's identity. There is no more relentless player or a night-to-night player than Westbrook. There is also not a player in basketball more capable of losing his team a game, or a season, due to reckless decisions and poor shot selection. There will be nights in which the Lakers have the three best players on the court. There will be nights in which two of those stars watch helplessly as their new teammate freezes them out of losses.