The NBA play-offs are played from the 2019-2020 season.
That season, Gobert confidently touched the microphone of the press conference, and then he was positive, and the NBA was suspended. And because of the epidemic, the NBA's resumptional rules that season were relatively special.
The starters are the venue of the semi-finals, which are held in the park and there are no spectators.
This was followed by the regular season after the resumption, where only a few teams were selected to compete in the top 8, and only eight more regular season games were played. In order to eliminate the impact of the reduction in the number of games, the NBA also added play-in rules, which were different from the current play-offs.
After 8 games are played, if the gap between 8th and 9th is less than 4 games, then 8th and 9th will have a play-off, the rules of the play-offs are 8th and 9th play 2 games, 8th only needs to win 1 game to advance, 9th must win 2 consecutive games to replace 8th promotion, if the gap between 8th and 9th is greater than 4 games, that is 8th to enter the playoffs, there is no play-off.
As soon as this rule came out, James was also more active, and at first he opposed the park game, saying that he played for the audience. Later, he said that the competition in the park was very good. As for the play-offs, the Lakers were already sitting first in the West at that time, and James was also very supportive of the play-offs, saying that it would be very interesting if he could watch the 8th and 9th compete again.
In the end, the Trail Blazers, who are eighth in the West, and the Grizzlies who are ninth in the West, played a play-off game, and the Trail Blazers narrowly defeated the Grizzlies to advance to the playoffs, and then lost to the Lakers 1-4 in the first round.
Obviously, the Lakers were the only beneficiaries of the 2019-2020 play-offs, and James' support couldn't be more reasonable, but James could not have imagined that the Lakers would be the biggest victim of the play-offs in the future.
After that, the NBA officially added play-in rules, and the rules were the same as they are now.
In the 2020-2021 season, the first season of the official play-offs, the Lakers ranked 7th, one of the victims, and had to play more games, and James also directly said that the person who proposed the play-off rules should be fired!
In the end, the Lakers fought hard, eliminated the Warriors in a thrilling way at the last moment, and entered the playoffs as No. 7, with a 2-1 lead over the Suns in the first round, Anthony Davis was injured, and the Lakers lost three games in a row and suffered a reversal. Maybe if it weren't for the hard-fought play-off game, Anthony Davis would have been able to hold on a few more games and the Lakers would have gone further.
The play-offs of the 2021-2022 season can't save the Lakers with four 75 stars.
In the play-offs of the 2022-2023 season, the Lakers are once again 7th in the West, or through hard fighting, they defeated the Timberwolves thrillingly to advance, and completed the Black 7 Miracle 4-2 in the first round, but in the same way, the Lakers also played one more hard battle than others. This season, James said he still hates the play-offs.
From 2021 to 2023 in the 3-year play-offs, a total of 12 teams could have ranked 7th and 8th and directly entered the playoffs, but because of the play-off rules, they had to play more games, and even faced the risk of elimination.
The Warriors, Clippers, and Cavaliers were all ranked 8th and were eliminated from the play-offs.
This season is the 4th year of the official play-offs, and the Lakers are finally ranked 8th in the West, and they have to play the play-offs again, and it is also the third time in the 4-year official play-offs that they have also suffered because of the play-off rules, surpassing the Timberwolves and enjoying the first pot exclusively.
Thinking back to 2020, when the Lakers were ranked No. 1 in the West, James, who righteously supported the play-offs, should not have imagined that the Lakers would either play in the play-offs in the next 4 years, or they would not even be able to enter the play-offs.