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The Los Angeles Lakers have lost five out of their last seven games, and they've lost four of them by an average of 26 points, their worst stretch of the season so far. Likewise, these embarrassments included Wednesday's 134-93 banger against the Miami Heat, who demolished the Lakers by 41 points in a game already decided by the second quarter. Such was the Lakers' performance that legend James Worthy called them out on television and urged them to do some soul-searching before Friday's game against the Atlanta Hawks.
“They need to get on the bus tonight and get some White Castle burgers and drive to Atlanta,” Worthy said on the Lakers' postgame show, seen in this clip from ClutchPoints. “And they need to think about who they are, and what they need to do because what they're doing right now ain't even close to Laker basketball. Not even close.”
The Lakers are not a serious basketball team
While the legend James Worthy did not say it so bluntly, it's clear from the Lakers' performance that they are not a serious team, at best, and they are a team of quitters, at worst.
No team with serious title aspirations, like the Lakers always say they are, would ever follow up a 29-point rout by allowing another underperforming team like the Heat to run them out of the gym by 41 points.
For instance, no serious team would let Tyler Herro torch the Lakers with nine threes.
Still, LeBron James did score 29 points against his former team, bouncing back from an 0-9 three-point shooting night against the Jazz, and a historically bad 4-16 performance against the Wolves.
However, that's only the faintest silver lining from a game that saw zero passion, zero effort, and zero competitiveness from every player on the team, starting from LeBron and Anthony Davis.
Additionally, JJ Redick could make all the adjustments he wants, but if the players themselves don't show heart on the court, they would always find ways to lose, and lose embarrassingly.
What now?
This type of loss should revoke the team's private jet privileges, as Worthy said, and they should figure out if they want to quit while they're ahead before arriving in Atlanta and then maybe losing by 50 this time.
Moreover, the Hawks have already beaten the Cavaliers twice, even dropping 135 points on one of the Eastern Conference's elite defensive teams in their first meeting on November 27.
This loss should also fall on Rob Pelinka, twiddling his thumbs while LeBron ages out of his Hall of Fame career and Anthony Davis enters the downslope of his prime.
Clearly, these losses are not on the coaches anymore–Darvin Ham has helped oversee the Bucks' dramatic 2-8 turnaround–but on the players and a front office who refuses to help them.
