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On Wednesday night, the Los Angeles Lakers suffered their worst defeat of the 2024-25 season (thus far), spiraling even deeper after getting demolished by the Miami Heat, 134-93. There is a bit of a rot festering within the Lakers as of the moment, although LeBron James and Anthony Davis are doing their best to not let the situation get any more out of hand than it already is.
However, the outside noise surrounding the Lakers and their struggles is as loud as ever. Two Lakers greats in Magic Johnson and James Worthy already expressed their disgust and displeasure over their performance against the Heat on Wednesday. But on the contrary, Dwight Howard, who may not be a legend in Lakers colors but is still an NBA champion with the franchise nonetheless, tried his best to at least put things in perspective amid panic among the Purple and Gold faithful.
“We beat Miami when it mattered most 🥶,” Howard wrote on his official account on X, formerly Twitter.
It is not a good sign that Howard had to resort to something that happened over four years ago to ease the unrest among the Lakers faithful. But no one can ever take away from the fact that indeed, the Heat fell to the Lakers in the NBA Finals in 2020, with the Purple and Gold taking care of business “when it mattered most”.
Still, four years is a lifetime in professional sports. The Lakers have fallen off since and haven't been very threatening in terms of winning the Larry O'Brien trophy once again. And their loss to the Heat on Wednesday only served to put in greater perspective how far they are from being in legitimate contention for a championship this season.
Lakers holding on to past achievements is a worrying sign
This past week has not been easy at all for the Lakers. LeBron James, in particular, is looking like his age for perhaps the first time in his career, although he did manage to put up a nice bounce-back performance despite their loss to the Heat. Anthony Davis is also going through perhaps the worst stretch of his career, which is a major concern when there is talk of passing the torch from James to Davis.
Dwight Howard may have good intentions with his post; he loves the Lakers organization with all his heart and he has been angling for a return to the NBA over the past few years. But having to bring up past accomplishments at a time like this is a major concern.
