The Los Angeles Lakers are set to face the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden on Saturday night. Both teams are performing well lately, and ahead of the game, the Lakers made an unexpected choice about their uniforms.
After their dominant 134-96 victory over the Washington Wizards on Thursday, with LeBron James leading the charge by scoring 24 points and recording 11 assists in just 27 minutes, Lakers’ head coach JJ Redick shared a powerful message about James’ performance.
“Don’t overlook the fact, by the way, that he’s 40 years old in year 22 with every accolade under the sun, and he comes out on a Thursday night that’s a non-nationally televised game against a team that’s really struggling and he is the tone setter. That’s competitive stamina. It’s impressive,” Redick said, highlighting James’ effort against the Wizards.
Now, the Lakers will face a Knicks team that has won five straight games, looking for their sixth win in seven games. With the stakes high, the Lakers decided to wear their purple statement uniforms for their matchup with New York.
“The Lakers made a team decision to wear their purple statement uniforms tonight against the Knicks. The game tips at 5:30 p.m. Pacific,” Mike Trudell of Spectrum SportsNet reported on X (formerly Twitter).
With a 27-19 record, the Lakers are currently in fifth place in the Western Conference. A game in New York may prove challenging given the Knicks’ recent success, but as their uniform choice indicates, Los Angeles is embracing the challenge and aiming for a major upset, entering the game as 11-point underdogs.
