One of the things that becomes apparent every year once the playoffs start is that the officials allow for a lot more physicality. Calls that would normally be fouls in the regular season are allowed to play through and that usually benefits stronger, more physical teams as the LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers struggled with in these playoffs.
The Minnesota Timberwolves used their size and physicality to great effect against the Lakers in the first round this year, but throughout the playoffs, it always takes younger, less experienced teams some time to adjust as it is simply a different style of play in the postseason.
Of course, none of this is new to LeBron who has played more playoff games than any player in NBA history and he enjoys the physicality. On the latest episode of the "Mind the Game" podcast with Steve Nash, the Lakers star called the postseason style of play fun, though he wishes the officials could give the players a month or so to get used to how the playoffs are called:
"If they're going to allow it to be as physical as it is, you got to give us a little time to prepare for it… Post All-Star break is usually like 30 games left, so maybe like 12 to 15 games left for the regular season. Like a month. Give us a month to prepare for it, because it goes from 0 to 100. It goes from us to be able to no body check, no hand checking, no pushing a guy off their spot, no rerouting guys at all for 6.5-7 months and then, two months straight, have at it. No holds barred. And it's fun. We don't have a problem with it, it's just a contrast of not being able to get into that flow. It's definitely, over the last like you said, 10-15 years they've allowed us to do it, and it's fun. I personally wish we could do it all year. But I also have the body makeup for it to do it all year too. It wouldn't be beneficial to the product to, you know, run a sprint during a marathon."
The rule changes over the years have certainly made for a more wide open product throughout the NBA, allowing this new era of stars to really shine and show off their skill level. But when things slow down in the postseason it is a massive shift and often times players struggle with that change.
As James noted, he understands why its beneficial for the league as a whole to have these rules the way they are and officiate things in that manner. But there's a reason why so many talk about the difference in playoff basketball and only those teams who can adjust can make those deep runs.
LeBron James and the Lakers weren't able to match physicality in this year's playoffs, but in all likelihood the all-time great will be back next year looking to make another run.
James is expected to pick up his player option for the 2025-26 season worth $52.6 million, though he and the Lakers will likely still have some conversations about the makeup of the team and he doesn't have to make that decision until June 29.
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