The Los Angeles Lakers wasted a vintage LeBron James performance on Christmas day as Luka Doncic and the Dallas Mavericks marched on to a 124-115 victory. LeBron looked like a man on a mission in this one, dropping a game-high 38 points as he did all he can to carry his team to victory. In the end, it was all for nothing.
This has been a very worrying trend for the Lakers this season, and unsurprisingly, the mean streets of Twitter had some not-so-nice things to say about LA's most recent meltdown — one that involved a record-setting 51-point third quarter for the Mavs that saw them pull away from the Lakers:
I promise you Lakers front office is not seeing heaven for the team they’ve surrounded LeBron with
— LakeShowYo (@LakeShowYo) December 25, 2022
I feel like i'm rewatching last season, LeBron dropping 30 every game, trying to carry and having noone by his side to help him, he tries his best but that's not enough. The man is 38…
— Tase ™ (@HoodieTase) December 25, 2022
Bro is a +8 while everybody is damn near negative💀 pic.twitter.com/fDdTrIFH6Q
— 🌃 (@Cozy_4x) December 25, 2022
Lebron gonna have the worst christmas and birthday ever pic.twitter.com/qphetzgQrC
— LeRui James (@lebronintern) December 25, 2022
As the keyboard warriors pointed out, LeBron virtually did everything by his lonesome on Christmas day. Russell Westbrook and Austin Reaves chipped in with 17 and 16 points, respectively, but that was pretty much it for anyone and everyone else on the squad not named LeBron James.
Article Continues BelowNaturally, the fans pinned much of the blame on the Lakers front office for their supposed lack of effort (or effectiveness) in building a proper team around LeBron:
Ham has 4 point guards with lebron at center. He should be fired on the spot
— valid like salad (@SaucedOnEm) December 25, 2022
The league should force Jeanie to sell the team after what she did this year🤦🏾♂️
— shark🇸🇴 (@sharmake_b) December 25, 2022
— Ivan Infante (@ivaninfante44) December 25, 2022
This trend simply cannot continue for the Lakers. There's no denying that LeBron is now in the twilight of his career and that he only has a few more years of basketball left in him. Another wasted year with the Lakers simply means that we're squandering away yet another season of prime LeBron James. Unfortunately, unless things change for LA in the near future, it seems like this is the path LeBron and the Lakers are headed right now.