The Los Angeles Lakers may be 17–7 and playing their best basketball of the season, but the loudest doubts about their title chances aren’t coming from opponents; they’re coming from inside LeBron James’ own circle. His agent, Rich Paul, publicly questioned whether the Lakers are “good enough to be contenders” this year, sparking criticism from talk-show host Jim Rome and forcing LeBron into the spotlight to address the team’s playoff expectations.

And just hours after Paul’s comments went viral, the Lakers suffered a damaging 132–119 loss to the Spurs in the NBA Cup quarterfinals, further fueling the debate.

The setback arrived at a time when things in Los Angeles had been looking better than they had in a long time. The Purple and Gold are fourth in the Western Conference with a decent

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