Nothing will save this team and the agony will persist for a long time. Had they not been fools and cowards and just made Jerry West the boss (alas too many egos much larger than their brains) they would’ve been where the other LA team is now—an exciting team of promise—and would’ve allowed West to end his career nobly and properly where he gave his best years.
11
“It’s been activated” - what an egotistical statement from a primadonna who is on the decline. Lebron is poison to team chemistry. Waste of money.
9
Pretty spot on analysis. Losing Randle, giving away Zubac, not believing enough in your own core, hard to forgive.
Magic maybe is just Earvin.
8
Hilariously impressive failure.
3
Let us hope the Lakers blow it at least one more night. The Bucks could really use the boost after losing at home to the Sixers despite Giannis's 52 points.
2
I don’t know what’s wrong with the Lakers, but I have always wondered why, in basketball, after a set of free throws, if the last one is good, does the ball go to the team that committed the foul? Wouldn’t it make more sense to return the ball to the team that was fouled?
3
@Bob C No. I hope that answers your question.
6
That is exactly what happens when the foul is not a “common foul” but instead, a technical foul.
Suddenly, KD saying that a "toxic atmosphere" surrounds LeBron doesn't seem quite so outlandish.
15
Magic wants to coach. He has been criticizing Walton because it is not how he wants the Lakers to play offensively and defensively. Since Magic assembled the players this past season and will again next season, Magic should be the coach. Then there will be no backbiting, no excuses for the Lakers to make the playoffs. Magic talks the talk. Magic needs to walk the walk.
18
@nagus
Maybe you should refer to his 93-94 stint with the Lakers. Not great. Most superstar athletes do not excel on the bench.
6
The, my L.A. Lakers I mean we’re on a great path to building a lasting winner. Then they did the same dumb thing the Raiders did bringing in Marshawn Lynch, Labron James. Both teams were on the mend. Then you bring in an aging superstar who usurps the air in the room and stymies the growth of in house leadership. The youngsters naturally and by all rights defer to the King or Mr. Lynch. They had it right then Ms. Buss, the GM and Mr. Earvin panicked or it seems. Veterans like the King, Mr. Lynch or Kobe don’t cede leadership. So we’re back to square uno. Oh well they could have been a contender except they weren’t that great.
4
My young Lakers weren't as good offensively or defensively as we hoped.
They probably would've made playoffs without all the injuries, but wouldn't have got very far.
LeBron is obviopusly still good on offense, though in close games the other team guards him and lets someone else shoot...and miss. Defensively, LeBron doesn't work too hard until it's playoff time.
So many other good teams in the NBA, West and East.
1
It was foolish for anyone to think that this team was going to be any sort of serious contender in a stacked Western Conference with LeBron and a promising, but young, core group of players. This was to be the transition season...and that was made very clear from the beginning.
Where things went awry is that the Lakers were starting to find a groove and began moving up in the standings (4th in the West by the Christmas game, I believe). The Christmas groin injury to LeBron was too much to bear when Ball and Rondo also became sidelined with injuries. The Davis trade fiasco soon after was a reactionary media machine creation that I think made more than what it really was. In the end, the Lakers ended up where most people (including LeBron) thought they would end up...better and more experienced than the year before, but never contenders.
This off-season is where the Lakers need to be smart. Unfortunately, "small-market" teams no longer allow themselves to be bullied into giving up their talent to the big-market teams. There are no quick and easy "Kwame Brown for Pau Gasol" trades to be made here. The Lakers simply need to do the hard work of team-building and staying the course...not falling victim to fulfilling LeBron's destiny where the Los Angeles Lakers become the "Cleveland Lakers".
Lastly, if there was one move the Lakers needed to make last offseason...it was not signing LeBron...it was bringing back Jerry West! West is the best evaluator of NBA talent ever!
15
LeBron has never been much of a team player and now he’s getting old.
13
This makes the Cavaliers look a little bit better, doesn't it?
9
Basketball is a game of efficiency and the Lakers don’t have shooters. End of story
6
Injuries definitely hurt the Lakers but more so were front office blunders. They signed Beasley when they could have spent the same amount to keep Lopez. Traded away good players.
But the biggest question mark is Lebron - he's still got it on offense, but defensively you have to ask what starting player in the NBA played worse defensively this season? For a decade plus Lebron was the best two player in the NBA - now he's astonishingly bad - whenever the Lakers give up an easy bucket and Lebron is on the floor, its usually he didn't switch or just stood around as his man cut to the basket. He has played so many minutes and until this season was injury free but you have to wonder what iteration of Lebron we will see going forward.
4
The main problem is they’re far too pretty to ever be successful in the grudge match that ultimately is the nature of NBA and sports success generally. Clearly these pampered
Multi-millionaires need to
Spend more time dribbling and less time with the body sculptors and tattoo artists.
6
What happened? The last time I looked,,, basketball was a team sport. It has nothing at all to do with having one star,,or two stars,,, you must have a team.
I always look back to 1990. Detroit/Portland.
There were some great players,,, but those were teams. Just my opinion,,, I don't think any one player of either team should have been called a star. There was not a single player on either side that was a Jordan, James, Chamberlain. In truth,, most to maybe all but a couple, would not have made the bench on other teams. But as a group,,, as two teams,, OMG,, that was the best Finals I have ever seen. It was the best team play,,, and that team could have, and did,, beat everyone.
It takes a team.
10
If the Lakers need a new GM, Isiah Thomas is available.
5
Lebron has had a great career, his game has grown over the years and he’s done important good in the community.
Having said that, he’s getting old and it shows, he left a fair team in a weak conference to go to a poor team in a strong conference.
He’ll go out like Barkley, Malone, etc, chasing a championship while running on fumes and diminishing skill.
And one more thing, he’ll never be Jordan’s equal, let alone better.
18
James is willing, but not even Michael could win with that bunch, or that front office....
8
When Dr. Buss died so did the Lakers. The Buss children are a sports industry version of "JaVanka" which proves again that nepotism is a foolhardy way in which to build success.
14
The 2018-2019 Los Angeles Lakers are not the first N.B.A. team to “tank” its season to qualify for the lottery draft and to otherwise enhance their future for the next season.
The Lakers are simply the first team to tank without knowing that they were tanking.
16
A fish rots from the head first. Time to build a team - it is unfortunate that the Lakers could not make better use of LeBron but a big change will have to occur to be competitive. Too bad for the fans.
2
As players, it'd be a no brainer to take Magic over Danny Ainge any day.
As team GM's / Presidents, we'll just have to flip that order.
4
@Bill in Vermont
Don't forget the Lakers could have gotten Jerry West instead of Magic Johnson. Instead, West was told to kick rocks and the Clippers scooped him up.
If you look at all of the questionable moves the Lakers have made lately, this change might have made a major difference.
6
Lakers problems are 85% due to injuries. Too many of them, affecting their main players, from Lebron to Ball, to Ingram.
No team could have survived those. Let's wait for next season.
5
@Alex Torres Really? The Celtics got to the Eastern Conference finals last year without their two stars, Irving and Hayward.
4
That’s a long time Lakers fan (West, Baylor, Goodrich), it’s hard to not see a direct correlation for the lack of performance with the departure of Jerry West as GM. LA is turning into a last stop for aging players who are looking for their next career.
7
Magic, and LeBron, obviously believed that the standard "We got LeBron!" script would play out one more time. Sign him; star free agents flock to your team; LeBron gets more rings. If he doesn't, he moves elsewhere and tries again.
Meanwhile, other teams actually put together winning rosters, without anyone named "LeBron", or a core of stars from other teams. My heart does not bleed for the Lakers.
10
The Decision and ensuing Miami debacle, Cleveland drama, and now an artificial city like LA. It’s called karma, LeBron.
10
Pure hubris. Several culprits.
12
The first 4 (5?) pages of my NYT paper copy's sports section was basketball. Can you just spare us already? Maybe just post a link to ESPN so these "adults" can just go there and talk it over all night and day over a brooski or 12?
3
Last night the Knicks shot something like 58% from the floor agains the Lakers, and LeBron had not one, but two shots blocked within the last minute, either one of which would have meant a Lakers win. They need to redecorate their house from the ground up.
7
Too many players with tattoos, underminded their cohesiveness!
7
LeBron was a man from Akron, Ohio
He promised a title for Cleveland
He came back and the city, it went crazy
But now he's stuck in La-La land
Get back
Get back
Get to where you still belong
7
This was written and we are reading it because LeBron is a superstar among superstars—who also transcends the NBA into popular culture. He is up there with Kareem, Bird, Kobe and, yes, Jordan.
4
@miller He's a rung below those guys. Not talent-wise--he's provided a highlight reel that competes, and even surpasses them (except Jordan)--but in terms of competitiveness and leadership he falls short. Jordan, Bird, and Kobe were competitive animals and effective leaders. LeBron's not. He's not as hungry as they were--you see it in his career choices and how he plays.
4
@Jacob
James makes his teammates better. Kobe, not so much. And I've been watching the Lakers since the Gene Wiley vs. Russell days.
Jerry West has had the greatest impact on the NBA, both as a Laker player and adviser (trades for Kobe and Shaq), trade with Memphis for the Gasols, adviser to the Warriors and now the Clippers. Success everywhere he goes. Jeannie should have put him in charge, not that blowhard Earvin.
9
The NBA is all about your GM and the draft picks and free agent signings he or she makes. One or two decisions can make or break a franchise for years. The Lakers have blown a series of very high draft picks, then got impatient and traded away some of them, and signed the wrong free agents. An NBA coach can make a bad team hustle and be competitive, or take a talented team over the top, but coaching can't make a good team out of a bad roster. This one is on Lakers' management. If Lebron had any input on the free agent signings, it's on him too.
19
Sorry to say that this will cost Luke his job. Lebron is a coach killer, Luke had plenty to learn but his demise was accelerated by the Davis thing and the loss of players.
27
@Brentley,
Agree w/ the "Lebron is a coach killer". Just wait though, they will replace Luke w/ Tyronn Lue, who is mediocre to average at best as a coach.
5
Don't worry, sports fans, the baseball season will soon be upon us and the Boston Red Sox will sweep all your troubles away.
11
@West Coaster
Right idea—but it will be the Yankees.
I watched a Laker game recently and James played. It was the worst defensive effort I've ever witnessed by an NBA team. Any opponent who wanted, simply drove to the rim while his defender and the defender's four teammates turned to watch. It was pathetic. I'm serious, I've seen grade school teams with a better understanding of "help" defense. As for heart and effort, this team has already checked out.
10
How the Los Angeles Lakers Blew It?
It could have been worse...
They could have done what Dolan's Knicks have done for the most of the last 15-20 long years...
22
I believe James is so distracted by Trump he can’t focus on basketball. He needs to be cured of TDS.
5
All the tats have them weighed down!
8
Who signs a high-mileage coming 34-year old to a 5 year contract? Johnson need only look in the mirror to see what went wrong this year.
LeBron's not as strong, fit, or fast, let alone as durable as he was just a couple years ago. He's on the wrong side of the hill to be expected to carry a team, unless it is from the coaching box.
21
@Lmaris
From my Bay Area perspective, LeBron was the key to 4 straight finals appearances by Cleveland against the Warriors. We never took him for granted and needed three or four all stars to beat him. Even the sweep or near sweeps were hard fought. He was far and away their best player and seemed to motivate, if not terrorize, his entire team. Maybe he's done, but I wouldn't underestimate LeBron with the right cast around him.
5
Being an NBA fan for most of my adult years makes it pretty easy to see the difference in defensive efficiency by the various teams. The Lakers were 6th in that category prior to the LeBron injury, middle of the road during his hiatus, and 29th since his return, most of that in the wake of the Anthony Davis mess. Maybe Barkley said it best, when he referred to the impact that the non-trade had on the younger players. Their inability to defend after the trading deadline is one of the starkest transformations in the league this season - I believe that it was a strategic error by Magic to put all the eggs in the Davis basket. You don't defend the same way after you've had a groin pull either. LeBron does a lot of watching now on D now, maybe due in part to his injury (though he says he's healthy). No doubt his young teammates noticed.
27
The only professional sports team lower than the Lakers in my esteem is the Yankees. So may the Lakers' troubles continue.
21
@abo There's a big empty space in a list which doesn't include the New England Patriots.
6
@abo - Yankee Championship #28 coming this fall.
4
@William Brehm
When did they legalize weed in Maine?
8
Basketball in the age of narcissism. It’s all about teamwork, as long as Lebron is the center of the show. What mega- talented player would want to be on a team with Lebron? I think others have learned from Davis’s error. He’s toxic. Unless he wins of course. Then he’s brilliant. In the end, Lebron doesn’t care as long as he has the cameras in his face. And I see no end in sight to that.
31
@Michael- It is amazing how certain people become lightening rods for criticism. Wow, LeBron James did not care his way to eight consecutive finals appearances and 13 consecutive playoff appearances! He did not care his way to being the career leader in playoff points, minutes, field goals made and attempted, and steals, and a very long list of other career records. Imagine what he would have done if he had actually cared.
8
As the great Warner Wolf used to say, for the Lakers, "the future is now."
2
You forgot to mention that Magic tried to bring in some shooters in that trade with the Clippers that sent Zubac + Sy for 2 nobodies. Talk about a panic move and not sticking to the plan. This is not going to end well for Magic, Luke or Jeannie
11
Yes. They dumped Zubac way too fast. He was really coming along and added a strong presence to their otherwise underwhelming front court. Yet another bad move by the Laker office.
4
LeBron's groin pull? The Lakers were on a roll even beating Golden State handily up until the injury, LeBron was leading the charge.
He'd be the best playing basketball leader of all time to turn around what was the Lakers at the start of this season and get them into the playoffs.
2
Good rd oration of facts but short on analysis. Which is this: LeBron and his narcissism ruined what could have been a promising team
16
@Jml
"That right there is when I knew I was the greatest player of all time." pfff
3
They traded D'Angelo Russell and released Julius Randle, for basically nothing.
Now, D'Angelo Russell is an All-star shooting guard for Brooklyn. Isn't shooting what the Lakers need?
Julius Randle is now starting as a power forward for the Pelicans, who, even when he played for the Lakers, was a double-double machine. Randle asked to be released after the Lakers obtained the referenced group of "ineffective" veterans, making clear that his playing time would be limited.
I really don't think they have a plan, beside "LeBron".
44
Lebron's injury was the major factor but the emotional collapse caused by the Anthony Davis gambit seemed to seal their fate. They still had a good chance to make the playoffs after he returned from injury. Just before the trade deadline, it was telling the night they played the Pacers and the fans chanted "Lebron is going to trade you " to a foul shooting Ingram and all the other young Lakers. Lebron became truly isolated and disconnected from his teammates--all of whom were on the trading block overnight.The emotional toll was too much for these young players and veterans alike and they have yet to recover.
42
ALL HYPE, Lebron is past his prime. He can still sellout, but he isnt Jordan.
33
To summarize, the Lakers' season was foiled by a rash of injuries, compounded by a few other factors.
4
So... LeBron is not Superman.
He's also 34 and has played basketball for at least 37 years.
I suggest that everyone give him a break.
34
Now that Lebron is better than MJ he's worried about being under Kobe's shadow, so he's trying to both self-destruct the lakers and also spend an entire wasted max season throwing nothing but bricks. Clearly he was rusty at bricks for 40 games but he's worked himself into lottery shape like a champ at the end.
1