The Los Angeles Lakers are the premier franchise in the NBA. With 17 championships in the trophy case, dating back to the BAA Minneapolis Lakers days, only the Boston Celtics can rival the Lakers' historical achievements. The 2022-23 Lakers, though, might be the worst team in the league right now. The Lakers' record is 0-4, putting them with the 0-5 Orlando Magic and the 0-3 Sacramento Kings as the only organizations without a win so far. There is plenty of blame to go around for the poor start. Owner Jeanie Buss, general manager Rob Pelinka, and highly-paid superstars LeBron James, Anthony Davis, and Russell Westbrook all have some degree of culpability. Who is most to blame, though? Here are the biggest Lakers culprits in the team’s terrible 0-4 start, ranked.

5. Jeanie Buss

In every terrible sports situation, the team owner has to take some share of the blame. They are the ones who put the key pieces in place. And they either sign off on every big decision or empower certain people to make the big decisions.

Nearly 10 years after her father, Dr. Jerry Buss, died, and Jeanie won an internal power struggle with her brother Jim, the results haven’t been great. Yes, the Lakers won the bubble NBA championship in 2020, but outside of that there’s only been one playoff appearance and no other playoff wins.

Jeanie Buss hired general manager Rob Pelinka, let him push franchise legend Magic Johnson out, and helped recruit LeBron James. She’s also either explicitly or implicitly signed off on every move since.

Jeanie is not on the floor on game days or actively working the phones for trades, so there are others to blame more. However, she has to be in the top five at fault for this 2022-23 Lakers debacle.

4. Anthony Davis

As far as Lakers superstars go, Anthony Davis shoulders the least blame right now for the Lakers' record thus far. Through four games, Davis is averaging 35 minutes, 24 points, 2.3 blocks, 2.8 steals, 2.0 assists, and 9.5 rebounds a game. And he’s not injured yet!

Davis is an excellent NBA player but as he demonstrated with the New Orleans Pelicans, he is not a No. 1 player on a championship (or even a serious playoff) team.

That said, as LeBron James and Russell Westbrook decline (more on that below), the 29-year-old veteran is the only player on the roster who could, conceivably, take his game to another level and carry the Lakers through these tough times.

That’s just not happening, though, because that’s not who Davis is. He is an excellent No. 2 (when healthy), and as all NBA fans know, when a No. 2 is your team’s No. 1, the long-term prospects of that squad aren’t good.

3. Russell Westbrook

Lakers fans — and NBA fans in general — would love to heap the lion’s share of the blame for the 2022-23 Lakers record on Russell Westbrook, but he comes in at No. 3 on this list.

Westbrook hasn’t been good this season. He’s played in three of the Lakers’ four losses so far and is playing 28.7 minutes per game. He’s also shooting a career-low 38.5% from 2-point range and a legendarily awful 8.3% from 3-point distance.

Despite these poor shooting numbers, Westbrook is still taking double-digit shots per game.

Is there a world where Westbrook realizes his limitations, stops shooting, and becomes a valuable defender/playmaker for the Lakers while playing fewer minutes? Sure.

However, Westbrook doesn’t seem like a guy interested in making that sacrifice, and frankly, the Lakers don’t really have anyone all that great to take his minutes anyway.

2. Rob Pelinka

Speaking of not having the players they need to fill up 48 minutes a game at five positions, No. 2 on this list is general manager Rob Pelinka. Kobe Bryant’s former agent did put together the 2020 championship team, but since then, it hasn’t been pretty for the Lakers roster.

Behind the starting five of James, Davis, Westbrook, Lonnie Walker, and Patrick Beverley, the other Lakers playing double-digit minutes during the Lakers’ four-game losing streak are Troy Brown Jr., Austin Reaves, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Kendrick Nunn, and Matt Ryan.

Raise your hand if you knew more of two of those players before this week.

Pelinka gave up the farm in draft picks to get Davis and three role players to bring in Westbrook. As a GM, Pelinka hasn’t been great, but the biggest issue is that it doesn’t seem like he’s truly running the show.

1. LeBron James

LeBron James, the NBA player isn’t having a great year for the Lakers so far. GM LeBron and his team a Klutch Sports Group, though, are really the biggest culprits of the Lakers' horrific start.

At 38, James hasn’t been good this season. He’s shooting nearly nine 3-pointers per game and making only 25.7% of them. The superstar also is making 4.8 turnovers per game. This might be the worst team James has ever played on, but Prime LeBron could have overcome the lack of talent single-handedly. This isn’t Prime LeBron, though, and that’s an issue.

James also pushed for the Davis trade — despite the incredible draft capital cost — and OK’d the Russell Westbrook deal, thinking he was getting 2016-17 Westbrook, not the 2022-23 Lakers version.

The Lakers' record is what it is due to a variety of factors, but Jeanie Buss, Anthony Davis, Russell Westbrook, Rob Pelinka, and LeBron James (in that order) are the biggest reasons why.