Article: “The Lakers’ Winding Path Ends With a Championship” by Scott Cacciola

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/11/sports/basketball/lakers-nba-title.html

The author starts by writing about how the LA Lakers had to overcome many obstacles in 2020. Afterward, he writes about the Lakers winning the championship in the end and the impact COVID-19 has had on their season. Cacciola then describes the contribution and role of LeBron James in the title as he became the centerpiece of the team during the season. In the end, he explains the obstacles further that he mentioned in the beginning.

I think the part about the championship can be seen as news as it just happened last week. However, the author never mentions a date and the rest of the article is not very recent or impacting so it is probably a feature. As for the lead, I think the when is missing but other than that it gives a quick overview over the topics in the article.

The article is in an inverted pyramid structure as the most important information (the title) is at the beginning and the less important facts (like what fuels LeBron James’ motivation). I don’t like that the fourth paragraph consists of one sentence with close to 60 words and that there are several other sentences just as long. I think the author needs to shorten his sentences to make the article less confusing.