Jason Kidd and the Dallas Mavericks further added to the misery of the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday after the Mavs took a 109-104 victory over a hapless LA side in their own home court. The Lakers put in a major effort to climb back from a huge deficit in the third quarter — they outscored the Mavs 31-14 — but in the end, Dallas was able to hold on to hand LeBron and Co. their third straight loss after the All-Star break.

Kidd is no stranger to the Lakers organization. Before taking over the helm at Dallas, Kidd served as an assistant coach for Frank Vogel in LA for two years. Kidd was an integral part of the coaching staff during the Lakers' memorable title run in the bubble in 2020. A lot has changed since then but at this point, Kidd still has nothing but love for his former team:

“That’s family over there,” Kidd said, via Sam Amick of The Athletic. “We’ve gone through a lot of battles, won a championship. I’ve always wished those guys well … It’s tough, you know, to see Frank and those guys struggling in the sense of just trying to get healthy, trying to get together, get the chemistry going. But if there’s anyone who can get it going it’s Frank and LeBron (James).”

It's no secret that the Lakers have been struggling mightily this season and as much as Kidd tries to sugarcoat the situation for them, the fact of the matter is that LA just isn't a very good team right now. Injuries have indeed been a major factor for this team, but at this point, it's hard to imagine this squad going on an extended run in the playoffs even if they were healthy.

As Kidd so aptly put it, however, if there was anyone who's capable of getting his team out of this mess, then it's LeBron James. And Frank Vogel.

“Well, that’s the thing — you can never count LeBron out. And Frank,” Kidd said. “And so again, last year, we had injuries, we played in the Play-In game, found a way to win that (against Golden State), found a way to take the lead in the Phoenix series — 2-1 —and then AD (Anthony Davis) goes down. And so again, as much as we talk about health, chemistry, this is Russ (Westbrook’s) first year here. As much as they probably wanted to click right away, sometimes it just doesn’t work that way.”

Fair point from Kidd here. The Lakers actually looked good last season and it felt like they had a great chance of advancing to the second round before Anthony Davis got injured. It all went downhill from there.

Unfortunately, it's looking like the same story again this year. AD has been out of action for some time now and it doesn't sound like he's going to be returning anytime soon. At least not as soon as the Lakers would want him to. The absence of the All-Star big man has been felt tremendously in LA. At this point, it is clear that the Lakers need Davis back as soon as humanly possible. Whether or not he returns in time is the big question right now. AD is expected to be re-evaluated in a couple of weeks' time and Laker nation is just hoping that it's not too late when he comes back.