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Shaquille O'Neal and Dwyane Wade had no problem about the Los Angeles Lakers losing to the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday. However, what they didn't like is that LeBron James and company had no fight in them for the majority of the contest.
In Shaq's eye, the Lakers simply quit.
“You gotta at least put more effort into it. I don’t mind losing, but when you don’t have a lot of effort, it shows that–and I hate to use this word–it looks like they’re quitting,” O’Neal said on the NBA on TNT broadcast. “I hate to use the word.
Dwyane Wade, for his part, agreed with Shaquille O'Neal and pointed out the Lakers' lack of urgency and pride. He sees the Purple and Gold pulling apart from each other amid all the struggles and losing, which is always a recipe for disaster.
“There’s no sense of urgency with this team. Like Shaq said, it’s not about winning a championship at this point. This is about pride. There’s no pride out there with this team. They pull apart from each other,” Wade explained.
The Lakers have now lost three straight games, keeping them in the ninth seed of the Western Conference with a 27-34 record. They are very much in danger of missing the playoffs altogether, with the New Orleans Pelicans and Portland Trail Blazers looking to climb the standings as well.
As Shaq claimed, however, it is not yet too late for LeBron James and the LA franchise. With 21 games remaining, they can still turn things around. But O'Neal noted that the team must first focus on getting out of the ninth seed and start playing as a team and with more effort.
There are still a lot of question marks for the Lakers. With the way they have played so far, it is not surprising why fans and experts alike are losing belief that they can make it to the postseason.
Even if the Lakers make it to the play-in, they will be facing a lot of hungry and motivated teams who have actually played way better than them in their recent outings.
