The Los Angeles Lakers' chances of repeating as champions will be largely contingent upon the health of their All-Star forwards LeBron James and Anthony Davis. And considering how injury-prone and vulnerable the team has been this season, a new string of misfortune wouldn't come as a surprise.
But USA Today reporter Mark Medina isn't too concerned about the Lakers' superstars staying on the court. He believes they're more likely to avoid injuries than the Eastern Conference favorite Brooklyn Nets.
"All things considered, I'm more bullish about their health, long-term, than the Nets," Medina told the Reiter Than You show on Friday. "And maybe that sounds weird because LeBron and AD had serious injuries that kept them out for an extended period of time. But I think Anthony Davis has shown that he's finally got his conditioning up to speed. While he has been injury-prone throughout his career, most of his injuries are never severe. And a lot of times, it's him falling down and then going to the locker room and then coming back pretty quickly.
"LeBron's case, with his ankle injury, sure you can look at, 'Oh, well he only played two games when he came back and then had to miss six.' But I think the reality of the nature of that injury had to do with, he didn't have practices or scrimmages to ramp-up before his return, because of his condensed schedule. So, that's where those two games came into play. And I think since then, he's got his wind back. He may have had an ankle scare in the regular season finale, but it didn't flare up afterward.
"So, I'm bullish that, the more games they play, their health is going to continually get better. But that being said, you never know. These guys are getting older, and injuries have a life of their own."
Los Angeles, which clinched the Western Conference's seventh-seed in a 103-100 play-in tournament win over the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday night, will open the playoffs on the road Sunday afternoon against the second-seed Phoenix Suns (3:30 p.m. ET tip).
According to FiveThirtyEight's most recent projections, the Lakers have been given a 16-percent chance to reach the NBA Finals, and a 9-percent chance to win the title. If Los Angeles accomplishes its ultimate goal, they'll be the first-ever seventh seed or lower crowned a champion.
The entire NBA playoffs conversation between Medina and Reiter can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Reiter Than You show on Twitter @sportsreiter and @CBSSportsRadio, and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin