Starting the season with an 11-11 record through 22 games is not where the Los Angeles Lakers wanted to be before the regular season started.

But with injuries to key personnel setting back how strong the team could be out of the gates, the harsh reality for the Lakers is that they aren’t a championship-caliber team just yet.

The Lakers are currently clinging onto a play-in tournament spot, which is exactly what happened last season when injuries to LeBron James and Anthony Davis caused L.A. to plummet in the standings.

After the Lakers pulled out a close win against the Detroit Pistons, James explained how challenging this season has been for him and the squad.

“It ranks right at the top of any other challenge I’ve had in my career, which actually brings out the best in me, and I love that,” James said. “I love trying to figure out how we can be better. Get through the mud, get through the adversity and just make it sweeter on the backend.”

James continued about how the Lakers have yet to hit their peak this season as the new-look roster sorts out the details of playing in a new scheme with new personnel.

“I feel like we haven’t even scratched the surface on what team we can be. We’re going to continue to get better and better as we continue to learn each other more and more, continue to work into our system offensively and defensively. Like I said, in preseason, training camp, in everything, we have nine, I believe nine new guys coming into a system they haven’t been in. That takes time.

“Obviously, you hate losses. We don’t want to lose. We get frustrated. We were mad as heck the other night after that Sacramento loss. We made it a point to come in today very focused on the game plan, learn from our mistakes, and we got better. Right there lets me know that we’re a team that cares, and we’re a team that wants to continue to get better throughout it all.”

It’s an 82-game season for a reason, so Los Angeles has time to turn the tide. The Western Conference so far has been dominated by the Golden State Warriors and Phoenix Suns, but it’s still wide open for other competitors. Maybe the Lakers will jump on that boat later in the year.