Had it not been for LeBron James, the Los Angeles Lakers would be in a much worse spot than they are in now. This is the narrative that we have all been hearing of late, and if you actually see LeBron play, it is clear that he's carrying the burden for his team at a rather alarming rate.
One particular stat, however, could imply that LeBron is doing more harm than good for the Lakers. According to StatMuse, he has the worst +/- rating on the entire squad:
hmm pic.twitter.com/fLfsJvRTFY
— StatMuse (@statmuse) November 10, 2022
The straightforward translation of this stat is that their opponents have outscored the Lakers by a total of 61 points when LeBron is on the floor, which right now, is the worst rating among all the players on the roster.
Article Continues BelowIt's hard to read too much into this stat considering there are a number of factors that come into play — some of which are beyond James' control. Then again, you also can't ignore this altogether.
One can also argue that at 2-9, the Lakers can't really fare any worse. Well, technically speaking, they could be 0-11 right now, which probably would have been the case if LeBron wasn't around. Either way, though, what cannot be denied is that the Lakers aren't a very good team right now.
What makes this all worse is the fact that LeBron James has been playing some pretty good basketball of late. He hasn't been putting up MVP-like numbers, but he's definitely doing everything he can to carry the load for a hapless Lakers side. This man needs some help!