LeBron James may have passed Michael Jordan for the fourth spot in the NBA's All-Time scoring list, but the Los Angeles Lakers suffered their fourth straight loss on Wednesday following a 115-99 beatdown at the hands of the Denver Nuggets.
After the game, ESPN analyst Stephen A. Smith aired his sentiments regarding what has been a disappointing season for the Lakers.
“It's a major disappointment because of what happened since Christmas Day. Christmas Day they [Lakers] were the fourth seed in the Western Conference, they were en route to a playoff berth, LeBron James goes down and missed about 18 games, they collapsed just like that. And then he comes back, and they looked just as bad as they looked when he was gone. They weren't playing defense, they were giving up about 122 points a game, their free throw shooting was the worst in the NBA, their 3-point shooting was the third worst in the NBA, and you just look at the bevy of injuries as well. Certainly it had something to do with it.”
The Lakers beat the Golden State Warriors on Christmas Day, in a game that was seen back then as a preview of a potential Western Conference Finals match-up. However, LeBron did go down with a groin injury that would sideline him for more than a month. In addition, veteran guard Rajon Rondo also had to miss about four weeks due to a hand injury.
Everything went downhill from there.
The Lakers relied on the young core of Brandon Ingram, Kyle Kuzma, and Lonzo Ball during James and Rondo's absence, but they weren't able to lead the team to success. To make things worse, Ball also went down with an ankle injury back in January, and he hasn't played since.
Ingram and Kuzma were also out against the Nuggets due to injuries, leaving Lebron as the only reliable scoring option for the Lakers.
Aside from the Lakers' struggles, Stephen A. also called out the team's front office, mainly Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka for failing to surround LeBron with enough talent.
“You've got to look at Magic Johnson and Rob Pelinka. When you see this roster, where's the shooters? Where's the rebounding? They've traded a guy like [Ivica] Zubac, who's 21 years of age, seven footer with skills, and happened to be their best free throw shooter at that time with 88 percent. You traded him for some guy like Mike Muscala, who looked like he can't play better than you or me, and I'm 51 years old. He looks that bad.”
“He's [Johnson] got to do something to change not just the roster, but the culture. Period.”
The Lakers have a lot of issues to address heading into the offseason. They won't be making the playoffs this year, and if they want to benefit from LeBron's remaining good years, they will have to find a way to improve the roster.
Follow Us
Subscribe