The Los Angeles Lakers set out in pursuit of LeBron James wanting to give his tenure in La La Land a much different feel than he had with the Cleveland Cavaliers in the past season.

To the front office's surprise, his 10-game absence from a groin injury sustained on Christmas Day has been nothing different from what the Cavs were during his four-year tenure in The Land.

The Cavs were a putrid 4-23 in games without James during his last four-year run. The Lakers just dropped another game against those same Cavs, this time without a Kyrie Irving or Kevin Love on the court, making matters that much worse.

Without James, they are 3-7, dropping from fourth place after a Christmas Day win to a tie for the eighth spot with the Utah Jazz at 23-21.

Lakers head coach Luke Walton expressed belief in his roster, a young one that is navigating a tough stretch without its star player on the floor.

“I believe in this group, and I believe that this group will play better and we'll start winning games,” said Walton, according to ESPN's Dave McMenamin.

General manager Rob Pelinka didn't seem to share the same optimism, dwelling on what feels like hitting rock-bottom after a loss to the team with the worst record in the league.

A Lakers source had told Bill Oram of The Athletic prior to the start of the season of the fragility of this roster, saying it could take as few as 10 absences from James to get this team out of playoff contention.

That prognostication couldn't have been more accurate, as the Lakers now fight for their lives, splitting hairs with the Jazz in hopes to cling onto the playoff picture.

Upon his return from a groin injury (still set to be re-evaluated this week), James will once again be tasked with spearheading this team into playoff contention, much like he did at the driver's seat of a one-man train that pushed for a fourth seed in the East and trucked the weight of the entire team to another NBA Finals appearance.

Seems like things have not changed that much at all, despite the intent from this front office.