As of next Wednesday (Apr. 10), the NBA regular season will officially come to a close. Three days after that, the NBA Playoffs begin. In what has become standard for the postseason, the Golden State Warriors will be back once again in defense of another NBA Championship. Over the past several years, they've had to battle past a team led by LeBron James in the NBA Finals. However, LeBron James won't be in the Eastern Conference playoffs. He also won't be there at all due to his new team, the LA Lakers, failing to make the cut. Since the Warriors' Stephen Curry listed LeBron in his top five players of all-time, it's only natural he also gave thoughts on the playoffs without LeBron.

Curry reacts to 'different' playoffs without LeBron

It's the first time since the 2004-05 NBA season that LeBron James will get the playoffs as vacation time. It's no vacation for Curry and his Warriors, as they're once again the team with the target on their back in the playoffs. This time around, they'll have plenty of competitors trying to dethrone them, and the NBA Finals representatives might even give them a tougher battle than usual.

So how's Curry feel about LeBron's absence? According to ESPN's Ohm Youngmusik, Curry said "It's different, but what is it? [Eight] straight Finals he went to?" He added that it's probably a "different experience" for LeBron, "for better or for worse."

However, Curry also feels positive that LeBron will be back.

After mentioning LeBron had "quite a run," Curry also said in his comments, "Pretty sure he'll be able to reset for next year and regroup." That seems to be the consensus amongst most NBA fans, analysts, journalists, and the rest of the players in the league. However, there are still those who wonder.

Thomas: LeBron's season an 'absolute failure'

The biggest story last summer was regarding LeBron James' free agency. When the Los Angeles Lakers ultimately become the team he chose to sign with, it sent Lakers fans into a frenzy. The belief was there would be a successful season on the way in LA. That wasn't the case, although it's not necessarily all LeBron's fault.

Injuries hampered the team, and they never seemed to develop a cohesiveness once King James returned to action. Lonzo Ball was also out a lot longer than some expected him to be.

Still, former NBA champion Isiah Thomas labeled LeBron's first season with the Lakers "an absolute failure." Thomas mentioned it's the first time we've seen this in a while really during LeBron's career.

Thomas also brought up the idea of LeBron having to bounce back from this failure which is something else that we haven't really seen him have to do much. LeBron has bounced back from losing in the NBA Finals, so there's that.

Another point brought up is that this is a down year for James as he's not just out of the playoffs.

He's also out of the MVP race and probably won't make the first or second All-NBA team. It's certainly a "different" time as Stephen Curry said and these tough times will show what LeBron still has left in the tank when he returns next season.

Of course, that quest to return to the playoffs is likely to have some more help. The rumors persist that Los Angeles will be a strong suitor during the big NBA free agency period this coming summer. So, it may not be as tough a task for LeBron to "bounce back" as some may think.
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